


Earbuds

by Pyr0_Kat



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - High School, Clueless idiot Jay Walker, Inaccurate examples of what the legal system actually looks like, Its ends as well as you would expect it to, M/M, Minor Violence, No Heteros Allowed in my fics, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Vigilante AU, if youre concerned about the lloyd/harumi tag dont be, medium burn?, nya is trans u cowards write more trans nya fics, school stuff is more background to the vigilante stuff tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-03-26 09:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 64,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13854819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyr0_Kat/pseuds/Pyr0_Kat
Summary: The city of Ninjago is protected by the six ninja: Green, Red, Blue, Gray, Black, and White. Kai loves working as the Red Ninja, and honors the bonds he's formed with his teammates more than anything else. Things start to get complicated after he accidentally discovers Blue's identity- and, after he realizes Blue doesn't recognize him, a little awkward as well. Along with all of this, a new criminal organization on the rise is pushing the strength of the ninja's bonds, threatening them to fall apart.So uh basically ninjago is gotham now and miraculous ladybug-inspired identity hiding hijinks ensue. (ok hand emoji)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OK UHHHHHH  
> I'm,,,,, very nervous posting this hoo boy. I have no idea if people will be into this or if they'll be scared off by a longer first chapter but I didn't want to break it up. so please give me feedback if this is something yall like??? I wrote/planned a lot of this before a lot of s8 had aired so it'll probably deviate more and more from canon as it goes but. You Know.  
> I really appreciated all of the comments/kudos on my other short ninjago fic so heres some more legos!!! uh yeah sorry for a lot of notes please tell me if this is good or not bc I dunno myself ghkjahdskjfas

Kai screeched to a stop, popping his kickstand and cutting off his engine in practiced ease. Four other motorcycles skidded to a halt in front of him as he leaped off of his bike, pumping his fist in the air.

“Booyah!” He shouted triumphantly, grinning wildly as the others cut their engines. “Oh hey, nice for you guys to finally show up.” He snickered, leaning back against his bike.

“Eat shit Red.” Black grumbled, kicking out at his front tire. Not with his full strength, of course, or else the bike would go flying. “It was practically a tie and you know it. That barely even counts as a win.” Kai could see Black’s furrowed eyebrows peeking out from under his hood.

“I finished only two point seven seconds behind you. It was within my power to pass you easily, but I would have put us both in danger if I had.” White said, pulling off his helmet. He was the only one on the team who still bothered to wear one.

Kai rolled his eyes dramatically, lolling his head with the motion to make sure the others saw in the low fluorescent light cast by the flickering lamp hanging above them. “Oh, I'm sorry, all I’m hearing are _excuses._ ”

“Guys, come on, it’s not even a completion.” Blue reasoned, leaning against his own bike.

“It’s only _'not a competition’_ when you come in last, Blue.” Nya teased, shoving his shoulder as she walked past him, leaving him a spluttering mess as he tried to defend himself. “I’ll get you next time, bro.” She threatened, bumping his shoulder with her own.

“You can try, but you will never succeed!” He called after her, shouting over the sound of their team leader arriving last. Black, White, and Blue all followed Nya into the warehouse, grumbling about losing their race.

Kai faced Green as he carefully pulled his bike in-between the others before cutting the engine and popping the kickstand. “Honestly, I don’t think you even tried.” Kai chastised, shaking his head.

The younger boy hummed as he stepped off the bike. “That could be because I didn't. Or it could be because I specifically said I wasn't going to when you shouted 'Race you back to the Bounty!’, but you probably didn't hear over the kick of your engine as you broke every street law in place.”

Kai shrugged, falling into step next to Green as the others disappeared into the Destiny’s Bounty. “Hey, we’re vigilantes, we don't exactly follow the law word for word.”

“I'd really rather you at least stay on the right side of the road.”

“Hey, I shaved off twenty seconds of commute time by taking that shortcut!”

“ _Red,_ ” Green moaned, throwing his head back and rubbing his eyes.

Kai laughed, pushing the squeaking door open for his leader as they reached the warehouse. “Fine, fine. I'll try to remember next time.”

“No you won't. Liar.” Green grumbled as he stepped past Kai into the Destiny’s Bounty.

Though visually the same as any other abandoned warehouse in the large port at the heart of Ninjago city, the Destiny’s Bounty- named after originally being found with the boxed remains of an old salvaged pirate ship of the same name- was far from empty. At the far end of the building was Wu’s set up, with several computer screens stacked on top of each other against the wall showing live feed of the area surrounding the hideout, while a radio on the desk hooked into the police chatter droned on constantly in the background. Wu himself was sitting in his desk chair, ignoring the arriving Ninja in favor of pouring over a mess of documents scattered around the table. Several boasted coffee stain rings.

To the right of Wu was the training equipment and the Med Bay. The Med Bay boasted several cots at skewed angles, a shelf full of medical supplies against the wall, and a small cooler holding packaged blood and several cans of soda inside. And in the corner, a curtained off space for if they needed to unmask for any reason. The right half of the building was littered with dummies and pads for training, as well as a shelf against the wall holding the ninja’s weapons.

Black, White, Blue, and Nya were already settled around the relatively new 'game corner’ that the ninja had worked together to create against the right wall. The rug was courtesy of Nya and Kai, who had bought it together specifically for the base. The small couch, which could only seat three of the ninja at a time, was brought in by Blue- though they all suspected the ninja had just picked it up at a dump, considering the stains and patched holes. Black brought the beanbags for the rest of the team to sit in, and White got the TV that hung on the wall. Green helped them put everything into place, but didn’t commit anything himself- Kai didn’t know their leader’s exact age, but he guessed that he was too young to have a job outside of their ninja work.

They didn't really have any _games_ in the game corner. Those were expensive, and they usually didn't hang around for long after group missions anyways. Just long enough to cool down and go over the mission.

By the time Kai reached the corner, everyone had already found a seat and was fully engrossed in the news flickering on the television. Kai flopped down into the last beanbag, relishing the chance to relax after the night they had.

_“... And to those just tuning in, Ninjago’s special Ninja force showed up again earlier tonight to aid police in an armed robbery that took place at Borg Industries at around eleven pm.”_

“Pfft, _aid police._ ” Black scoffed, falling back on the couch. “If anything, they aided us! We got the call the same time they did and we were still ten minutes earlier. Most of the action was over by the time they showed up.”

“Shhh!!” Blue hushed him. “They're about to get to the good part.”

_“.. phone, shot during the scene of the crime. We would like to warn that the following footage shows physical violence that may be disturbing to some viewers.”_

The image on TV changed to an extremely shaky shot of the lobby they'd been at twenty minutes earlier. The camera evened out, and focused in on one of the robbers who was encased in ice, gun frozen mid-shot with the bullet suspended several feet in front of him.

White clapped his hands. “That was me!”

Kai rolled his eyes, reaching for the whiteboard that was laying closest to his beanbag chair with a marker on top. “Yeah yeah, I got you dude.” He used the red sleeve of his gi to quickly erase last week’s marks, and placed a single tally under ‘White’.

The recording on the tv turned sharply, focusing on Nya as she blocked a blow from another criminal before decking him in the face, causing him to crumple to the floor. The camera suddenly shook violently as the woman shooting shouted out.

_“---- yeah!! Gray ninja!! I love you!!”_

Kai glanced at his sister beaming proudly on the couch, sandwiched between Black and Blue. Black offered his fist, and she modestly bumped it, both of them blowing up their hands.

“That was a good hit, Gray!” Blue complimented quickly. “Super impressive. I wish I was as good at hand to hand as you are.”

Kai rolled his eyes, marking a tally under _‘Gray’_ and turning back to the TV as Nya thanked Blue. He didn't envy his sister constantly dealing with Blue’s painful attempts at flirting.

The Nya on TV turned to the camera and flashed a thumbs up- her expression hidden by her hood and mask, though Kai could make out the crinkle in her eyes that evidenced a large smile before dropping down to put the crooks hands in a zip tie. The camera panned around the room, showing snippets of Kai’s fire and Blue’s lightning flashing across the room as White and Black raced to the doors, someone slung over Black’s shoulder- Kai made a quick mark, nodding to Black on the couch- before a green body stepped in front of the shot, blocking out everything.

_“Please evacuate the building.”_

_“Oh, right- ok- sorry--”_

The camera followed the phone owner’s feet for a couple steps before fading away back into the newscaster. Everyone booed loudly as Green threw up his hands in defeat.

“What, I'm sorry I escorted a civilian to safety! Which, by the way, should qualify me for a point.” He added, pointing a finger as Kai.

Kai shot him a thumbs down, but still marked the tally. “Alright!” He announced, holding up the board for all to see. “We got a solid start for the week. I wouldn't get your hopes up though,” Kai continued, setting down the whiteboard and marker next to his beanbag before leaning back, arms crossed behind his head. “Ya’ll know the cameras love me the most.”

“Says the guy with no points.” Nya snickered.

“Give it time, the weeks still young!”

“Ninja, a word.” Wu called from the back. White picked up the remote, shutting off the TV as everyone stood up and stretched before making their way over to their sensei.

Wu continued to pour over his papers and laptop screen until all ninja were lined up and standing at attention. A few more moments passed before he sighed deeply, finally turning to face the group.

“Quick work tonight. You all made good time reaching the scene, and there were no injuries reported. However,” he turned in his chair slightly, glancing back at the papers littering his desk. “So far this appears as a solidary case. The criminals are still being processed, but it appears that none of them have any ties to larger crime circles. Unless one of you noticed something?” He glanced back at them, almost hopeful.

They all shook their heads. Wu sighed again, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Alright. You're all dismissed. Go home.” The ninja immediately broke away, none of them heading home.

“Man, I hope someone was able to catch me taking out that bald guy,” Kai lamented, folding his hands behind his neck. “I grabbed his gun at heated it up so hot it turned orange, and he screamed as he dropped it.”

Nya shook her head as she flopped back onto the couch. “If it wasn’t filmed, it doesn’t count. You know the rules. By the way, can we print off that shot of me punching the guy in the face? I think it’d look great next to Black falling out of a window.” She pointed to the collage of blurry photos taped to the wall under the TV.

“Only shameful shots can be placed on the Wall of Shame.” White spoke solemnly, shaking his head.

The team’s banter continued for a while longer, all of them unwinding from the night. White was the first to leave, his watch beeping to signify his patrol time. Some time later Black yawned loudly and announced that he was going home to sleep, and Green left the group to join Wu in inspecting open cases, leaving Nya alone on the couch with Kai and Blue sitting on beanbags across from each other.

Nya yawned, arching her back in a stretch, earning a satisfying pop. “We should be heading home too, Red. It’s a school night.”

Blue groaned out. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

Kai cast him an odd look. Blue didn’t often join the team in complaining about classes. He thought the ninja once said that be was homeschooled.

“You go ahead, Gray. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

Nya cocked an eyebrow at Kai. “What’re you staying for?”

“I’m gonna print off that shot of you punching the robber today and hang it on the wall. I wanna see how long it’ll take White to notice.”

Nya snickered and stood up. “Alright, if it’s for a worthy cause. See ya at home.”

Kai also popped his back before jumping up and heading to the desk where Wu and Green were talking in hushed voices. They stopped as they heard Kai’s echoing steps approaching.

He gave the pair a lazy small two fingered salute as he pulled the laptop to the edge of the table. Green blinked at him, creasing his eyebrows for a second before going back to the case papers. Wu gave a long suffering sigh.

“Didn’t I tell you all to head home?” The sensei grumbled, closing a yellow file case and leaning back in his chair. “What time is it?”

Kai glaced at the corner of the computer screen as he pulled up the night’s video. “Almost two thirty.”

Wu swore softly. “Green, you head home. I can finish this up on my own.”

Green looked up from the papers. “But sensei-”

A harsh look silenced him. Kai glanced awkwardly at the two, shifting his weight to his other foot. Green and Wu always seemed to have some kind of relationship beyond that of master and student, but whatever that relationship was, Kai hadn’t the faintest clue. Not for the first time, he wondered where Wu had found the younger boy.

The sound of the printer tucked under the desk starting up seemed to break the tension in the air. Green sighed, breaking eye contact. “Yes, sensei. Later Red,” He added, pushing his papers back and stepping away from the desk.

“See ya.” Kai waved, watching him go. He glanced back at the papers Green had been going over.

 _The Sons of Garmadon,_ He read, furrowing his brow. _What?_

“The printer’s done,” Wu commented, not looking up. “Can you return my laptop now, please?”

Kai snapped his head up. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” He quickly closed out of his tabs and pushed it back to Wu. Wu took it without looking at Kai.

The Red Ninja quickly bent down to pull the paper from the printer under the desk. He opened a drawer and sntached a roll of tape, heading back to the game corner.

He found Blue sprawled across the couch, groaning dramatically. Kai snorted, turning to the TV to tape up the picture of his sister. “What’s got you down?” He humored his teammate.

“School tomorrow.” He groaned.

Kai narrowed his eyes, looking for the picture of Black that Nya had pointed out from amongst all the other pictures. He smiled at one that showed a brick bouncing off of Blue’s face. “I thought you were homeschooled?” He asked, not really expecting an answer.

Blue gave him one anyways. “Nah, I’m switching to a real place.” Kai glanced over his shoulder, surprised. Blue glared. “Not that I’m saying where! Jeez, we don’t always have to be so stingy with personal info. It’s not like im giving you my address.”

Kai hummed, finally taping the picture in place. “Yeah, I guess. Sorta a weird time of year to transfer though, isn’t it?”

“It’s either now or I wait till next year to get my highschool diploma,” Blue grumbled, pushing himself up. “I’ve just never been to a public school, yaknow? You guys always make it sound so terrible.”

Kai shrugged, dropping the tape and turning to face Blue. “Eh, I guess it’s what you make of it. If you go in expecting a shitty time, you’ll get a shitty time. ‘Sides, you seem like the type to make friends easily.”

Blue stood up off the couch, stretching an arm across his chest. “I guess.”

After years of working with the other ninja and never seeing any more of them than their eyes, Kai was experienced enough to see the uncertainty in the small knot between Blue’s. “You’ll do fine.” Kai clasped a hand over his shoulder, trying to smile encouragingly, knowing that his mouth was hidden.

The small crinkle under Blue’s eyes told him that he was smiling too. Kai pushed against his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get going. Best to get as much sleep as you can before your first day.”

 

* * *

 

Kai closed his school locker, revealing Tox’s face standing right beside him.

He shouted in surprise, jumping backward, and the girl snickered. “Why so jumpy, Kai? Stay up late _studying_ again?”

Kai rubbed his neck, chuckling lightly as he slug his bag over his shoulder. Countless students flowed past his hallway locker, chattering voices droning on in the background. “Nah, I slept fine last night. Just didn't expect some weirdo to be standing so close to me.”

Tox slapped his arm, pouting at him. “You better be nice to this weirdo or she’s gonna make you find a new table to eat at.”

Kai shrugged, leaning against the wall of lockers. “Eh, I'm sure the jocks could take me in.”

Tox snorted. “Like you've ever done any physical activity in your life.”  

Kai laughed along with her. “Yeah, I guess.”

A head of purple hair broke out of the crowd of students passing by, and Tox’s face instantly lit up.

“Hey Chamille.” Kai greeted as the girl wrapped an arm around Tox and kissed her temple.

“Hey Kai. You see Neuro? He was supposed to let me copy his homework for next period.”

Kai shrugged. “Sorry, no.”

Chamille suddenly looked up from her girlfriend. “Oh! That’s right,” She scanned the sea of passing bodies, standing on her tiptoes to try and get a good view. “I found a new kid in my math class. He was cool, so I wanted to bring him over to meet you guys- did I lose him?”

Kai rolled his eyes, but something in his chest perked up. Another student transferring in? Maybe it wasn't as uncommon as he thought. He’d have to tell Blue that he wasn't alone next time he got the chance.

A short kid suddenly stumbled out of the crowd short ways away, bumping against the lockers as he tried to find his footing. “Ah, there he is. Yo! Over here!” Chamille waved him over.

Kai regarded him with mild interest as he walked over, the new student gripping both straps of his backpack in his hands, and obviously incredibly nervous.

“I'd bet ten bucks he was homeschooled.” Tox whispered. The curious fliker in Kai’s chest suddenly tightened. _Homeschooled….? That’s too many coincidences._ He blinked hard, trying to rid himself of the thought. Tox didn't know if this new kid was homeschooled, it was only a guess. And even if he was homeschooled, there was no chance that he could be-

“Hey,” the redhead greeted in a voice that Kai _knew_. “You're Chamille's friends?”

And suddenly, the bustling hallway was completely gone, the floor rolled under his feet, and Kai could only hear the ringing in his ears as he stared at Blue.

His hair was a reddish brown. He had freckles. There was a small gap between his front teeth. His right eyebrow had a notch in it- Kai grew even more dizzy, remembering the photo of Blue getting hit by a brick hanging under the TV, and him hiding away behind the curtain in the Destiny’s Bounty the day it happened so Wu could stitch up his forehead. His eyes were the exact same shade of blue they were when Kai waved goodbye less than twelve hours ago.

It felt like Kai had walked in on his friend getting dressed, rudely interrupting his privacy and seeing him in a way that he had no right to see him in. He wanted to look away, but he was frozen, feeling every detail of Blue’s face burning into his memory.

“Yep.” Tox greeted, completely unaware of Kai’s deteriorating mental state. “I’m Tox, her girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you.” Blue said, far too polite for a highschool setting, but how would he know any better. His eyes turned to Kai, and-

And he was expecting Kai to introduce himself. He didn't show any signs that he recognized him yet, but Kai knew the second he opened his mouth and said anything Blue was bound to catch him just as quickly as he had caught Blue, and Blue would learn his identity, and his _name,_ and everyone was still staring at him, waiting for him to say something as he stood frozen with his mouth hanging open.

“Hi.” He choked out, several syllables deeper to try and mask his voice. He heard Tox snort in laughter behind him. He suddenly felt very hot.

“The guy whose 50% hair gel is Kai.” Chamille introduced him. Kai wanted to turn and glare at her, to shout something over her voice, to jump at her and clamp her mouth shut- but his brain cut out as she said his name, his body frozen in fear. “Tox and Kai, this is, uh-”

_Don't say his name don't say his name doN'T SAY--_

“Jay.” Blue supplied, grinning sheepishly.

Kai felt the glass shattering around him. Years of mutual trust and carefully built boundaries had all been completely destroyed by a casual introduction.

 _Blue Jay. Like the bird,_ Kai thought, which was totally intrusive and definitely not helping his situation at all.

“What classes are you in? Chamille said you were new, maybe we share a class.” Tox asked.

“Oh! Uh,” Blue- or Jay, rather, quickly fished a paper out of his pocket, reading it out. Tox piped up when he read a class that she shared.

Kai felt extremely hot, like he might accidentally ignite the next flammable thing he touched. He took a deep breath, trying to let the tension drain. Jay wasn’t acting weird at all- well, he was a little jittery as he tried to hold his conversation with Tox, but he was holding up far better than Kai was. _He must not have realized yet._

Then Jay looked up at Kai, still holding his schedule close to his chest. “Uh, Kai, what’s your schedule? Maybe we have a shared class too.”

For a second, Kai stubbornly gritted his teeth, refusing to let himself speak and completely out himself to his teammate- if he wasn’t already, and Blue was secretly an extremely good actor. But the next second, he relented, mentally sighing in defeat. There was no way he'd be able to hide from Blue- from Jay- forever. They were in the same school now, so there was no avoiding the occasional bump in. Better to just rip off the band-aid, and find a place to talk privately later.

Hesitantly, he began listing off his classes, observing Jay’s eyes for the flash of recognition.

It never came. His blue eyes diligently scanned over his schedule, waiting for the overlap. When Kai reached the end of his schedule and it never came, Jay’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Doesn't look like we have any, I guess…”

Chamille waved him off. “Hey, don't worry, you still got me in math and Tox in- NURO!” She shouted without warning, causing Jay to jump in surprise. Kai looked over the crowd of students that started swimming back into his vision, but couldn't spot the subject of Chamille's wrath.

“Get your ass back here, I need next period’s homework! You bastard!” She untangled her arm from Tox’s neck and sprinted into the throng, shoving students out of her way with no abide. Tox followed in her wake, giving Kai and Jay a quick wave, leaving the pair alone.

Kai swallowed the lump in his throat, slowly turning back to Jay. The boy was holding a hand on his chest, his eyes wide. “Jesus,” he breathed, obviously frazzled. “Does she always shout like that?”

Kai shrugged. “I mean, yeah. A lot of students do. You get used to it.” _Also, you were shot at last night by several different people and didn't bat an eye, so is this really what it takes to scare you?_ He wanted to add, but refrained, not wanting to make the first mention of their alter lives.

Jay ran a hand through his hair, messing with the curls. “It is _really_ loud.” He confessed, shoving his schedule back into his front pocket.

“Try headphones.” Kai offered. “Actually, here,” He swing his backpack around, opening a front pocket and digging around for a few seconds. “You can take my earbuds for your first day.”

“What? Really?” Jay's eyes widened as Kai held them out. “No way, I can't take your stuff after just meeting you.”

Kai blinked. He did a quick glance around them- nobody was standing close enough to hear, and the crowd of chattering students offered a constant background noise, covering up anything said between the two boys to any possible passerbys. He cleared his throat, and looked back down at the earbuds he was offering. “No, uh, you should take them. They're a good color for you.” He spoke a little slower, pushing the tangle of wires a little closer. Jay cocked an eyebrow at him, and looked back down at the offering. Kai's body tensed as he waited for his reaction.

“I mean, I guess blue is my favorite color. Thanks man.” He grabbed the buds out of Kai's hand, and set to work untangling them.

The tension slowly tricked out from Kai’s shoulders. _That's… it? Nothing? Really?_

He narrowed his eyes, studying Jay in more detail. _Was_ this new kid actually the Blue Ninja? Wouldn't he have given Kai a sign to say that he was? Was... he trying to convince Kai he _wasn't_ Blue?

Jay made quick work of the mess of wire and pulled out his phone- _cracked screen and blue case_ , Kai noted instantly, not that his own phone was much different, sporting a red case with flames. As Jay plugged in the earbuds, Kai realized with a jolt that the case _did_ actually have a lightning bolt design down the center. Not very subtle at all.

“This is crazy nice of you, dude. I mean, really, thanks.” Jay looked up at Kai, smile tugging the corner of his lips, though Kai could easily read his sincere gratitude from the just shine in his eyes.

Kai waved him off, still unsure what to make of him. “Eh, don't mention it. Chamille's got good instincts when it comes to people.”

Jay laughed quietly. “Honestly, I think she only invited me to meet you guys because I let her read my answers.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Kai laughed, rubbing his neck. _By the way, are you the Blue Ninja?_ He wanted desperately to ask, but the question was lodged in the back of his throat.

Then, Jay knit his eyebrows together, making a small knot of uncertainty. “Um-” He glanced quickly away, eyeing the crowd of students before looking back at Kai. “Sorry if this is a dumb question, but are you, uh-” he glanced down quickly, shuffling his feet.

Kai’s heart stuttered and leapt to his throat, blood roaring through his ears. His knuckles turned white as he gripped his backpack strap. _This is it. The elephant in the room. Are you the--_

“Are you able to tell me where this room is?” Jay held out his arm, rolling up his sleeve just enough to point at a room number written on his wrist with _biology_ scrawled underneath it.

Kai blinked, his brain short circuiting. “You wrote your class schedule on your arm?”

“In case I lost the paper.” He confessed, pulling his wrist back and glancing aside sheepishly. “It's such a big building. I have no idea what floor I'm even supposed to be on.”

Kai laughed. Something inside of him snapped, and it sent him doubling over and convulsing in a fit of giggles. Either Jay wasn’t Blue, and Kai was just going fucking crazy, or Jay _was_ blue, but also either completely clueless or a _phenomenal_ actor. Kai didn't know what outcome he was hoping for.

“Sorry, sorry--” he tried to apologize, gasping for air and whipping his eyes as he straightened back up. Jay didn't look offended more than he looked confused. “I just- I did the same thing my first day. It's a good strategy. I'll lead you to your next class- it's actually near mine. C’mon.” He turned around, beckoning Jay with a wave to follow.

The boy beamed and easily fell into step behind him. Kai wasn't certain anymore if he was Blue or not- his chest screaming _yes_ but reason telling him to wait for more evidence. But Jay, just as Jay, seemed like a nice guy, and Kai wouldn't mind getting to know him a bit better.

 

* * *

 

Kai shut the apartment door behind him. “Hey,”

“Hey.” Nya greeted, still typing away at her laptop. “How was school?”

Kai hesitated for a heartbeat, frozen halfway through his shrug, backpack hanging by his elbow. “Fine.” he answered, dropping his bag by the door. “You?”

“Still in the middle of class,” Nya answered, before slamming the spacebar and pushing her computer back. “But I can take a break. What happened?” She pointedly turned to look at him.

Kai groaned, flopping down on the couch behind the kitchen island where Nya was working. “Get out of my head.”

“Would if I could.” She hummed. “What happened?”

Kai smothered his face in a pillow, hesitating. He didn't want to out Blue’s secret identity to Nya, but she'd know if he was lying. And she wouldn't leave him alone until he confessed. And… he did want to confide in someone. Nya was the only person he could do that with.

“I, uh,” He began, shifting uncomfortably. “I think I met Blue today?”

“What?” Kai heard Nya stand up and walk over. She rested her elbows on the back of the couch, holding out her wrist and pulling up the holographic screen on her modded Borg Watch, flipping through several different tabs. “I just got back from patrol. He’s not scheduled for today. The hell was he doing?”

“Going to school?” Kai mumbled.

Nya’s eyes widened, holo shutting off as her hands dropped down the back of the couch. “Holy shit. No way. What?” Kai would have made fun of her reaction if he wasn't still feeling the exact same way. “Like, you met him _out of uniform_? How do you even know it's him?”

Kai threw up his arms in frustration. “It’s not like it’s that hard to tell! I mean, I've only been working with him for four years. I recognized his voice, and his eyes.”

“You recognized his eyes?” Nya wrinkled her nose at him.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Bro, that's kinda gay.”

Kai spluttered, sitting up quickly. “What! No, I just- it's not like _that!_ It’s the only part of him that's recognizable!”

Nya laughed. “Really though? You know his eyes well enough to recognize them?”

“I’ve only ever _seen_ his eyes! I know all the teams eyes well enough to recognize them! Don't you?”

Nya shook her head. “I couldn't even tell you what color Blue’s eyes are.”

“They're blue, Nya.” Kai fell back on the couch again, draping an arm across his face. “Blue’s eyes are blue.”

Nya snorted. “But seriously, lots of people have blue eyes. That's not enough to know if this kid is Blue or not. Isn't he homeschooled anyways?”

“Switched to public,” Kai mumbled from under his elbow. “He told me last night after you left.”

“Holy shit.” Nya repeated in quiet awe. “ So you’re like, totally sure then? You didn’t talk to him, did you?”

Kai let his arm slide off his face to stare dejectedly at the ceiling. “We chatted for a bit.”

His sister stared down at him, creasing her eyebrows. “And he didn’t say, _‘By the way Red, I’m the Blue ninja?_ ’”

“I don’t know!” He snapped, finally pushing himself off the couch. “Maybe he just didn’t want to out himself, maybe he didn’t recognize me- but I swear it’s him, Nya!”

She studied his face for a second, still not looking totally convinced. “If you were able to recognize him so quickly, why wouldn’t he recognize you? You can’t be sure until he says something.”

Kai groaned, dragging his hands down his face and turning around to pace the room. “Nya, I know where you’re coming from, but I swear, I’ve had all day to think through this, and I know my teammates. It has to be him.” Kai suspected he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince his sister.

Nya hummed. “What was his name?”

Kai immediately stopped pacing, swinging around to point a finger at her. “Oh no, I am _not_ telling you.”  
“Come on!” Nya whined, flopping her body over the back of the couch. “We don’t even know for sure that it’s really Blue! It’s just a name.”

“I’m not going to out him to you! _I_ shouldn’t even know it. I’m not saying.”

“Is it Scooter?”

“What?” Kai coked an eyebrow at his sister as she fully rolled over the back of the couch, landing with a flop on the cushions. “No, it’s not- where did you get that from?”

“He seems like a Scooter.”

Kai rolled his eyes, holding his palms up. “Well he’s not. Sorry to ruin your headcanon.”

“It was just a guess, you dweeb.” Kai easily ducked out of the way of the pillow Nya threw at him. “And _fine_ , you don’t have to tell me. But if it is really him, that’s crazy. What are you going to do?”

Kai moaned, dragging his feet into the kitchen. “I don’t know. I mean, I have to confront him about it eventually, right? Even if he doesn’t recognize me as Red.” Kai slumped against the fridge, energy draining as he thought about how awkward _that_ conversation would be. “It’s not fair if I know his secret ID but he doesn't know mine.”

“Hey, doesn’t that mean that I get outed too though?” Nya’s head popped up from the couch. “The team knows that we’re siblings, if one of us gets outed, it’s only a matter of time until we both do.”

“I mean, I guess.” Kai rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t think of that.”

Nya glared at him across the room. “You can’t just go around shouting to everyone that you’re the Red Ninja. There’s a reason we keep our identities from each other.”

“Jesus, I know.” Kai groaned, sliding to the floor. “You sound like Wu.”

“Well, he’s the prime example of why we go by colors instead of our names.” Kai didn’t respond. Nya sighed, rolling off the couch and walking around to her brother sitting with his back against the fridge and head buried between his knees.

“I just wish I could forget him,” Kai whispered, balling his hands into fists as Nya crouched next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I wish I stayed home sick today. I wish I never met him. God, Nya, what if this ruins the team?” He looked up at her with wide eyes.

“This isn’t going to change anything unless you let it.” His sister scolded, gripping his shoulder harder. “Look, you said that Blue didn’t show any signs that he recognized you?” Kai nodded slowly. “Then there’s no problem! Your identity isn’t compromised, and by extension, neither is mine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Blue’s is, though.” Kai mumbles, glancing away. _Jay’s is._

“Well, are you planning on outing him to the public?” Nya asked skeptically.

“No!” Kai exclaimed, reeling back.

“Then it isn’t. You can keep Blue’s secret- _even from me_ , I guess, even though I’m your sister- so Blue’s got nothing to worry about. He’s safe, you’re safe, I’m safe. Everything is fine.”

As if on cue, both their Borg Watches vibrated. Kai glanced down at his own and Nya pulled her hand away from him.

 

_Green has issued a Level 3 Emergency_

_Location: Ninjago Art Museum_

 

Kai glanced up at his sister, small smile pulling at the corners of his face. “Wanna take this one together?” A mission would be perfect to take his mind off of things.

Nya shook her head, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder to her laptop. “Gotta finish class. It’s timed. You go ahead.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Kai scrambled up, pulling up his holo screen and hitting _Accept_ as he jogged to his bag, undoing his pants.

“ _Really?_ ” Nya cried, turning away as Kai threw his jeans across the room and began digging through his backpack, pulling out his gi. “Do you _have_ to change out here?”

“Level three emergency! You got the notification.” He laughed, pulling his top over his head. Nya curled into a ball on the floor, groaning loudly as her brother finished dressing himself. Within the minute he was running to their window, pulling his scarf up his nose and hood over his head. “Save some dinner for me!” He called, unlatching the hooks and pulling it up.

“Say hi to Scooter for me!”

Kai froze halfway out the window. “What?”

Nya jumped off the floor, her watches holo screen projecting off her wrist. “Blue rsvp’d right after you. It’s you, Green, and him at the art museum. Get going!” She made a shooing motion with her hands as Kai still sat with one leg on the window sill and the other still in their apartment. “Don’t be late!”

Kai sighed, feeling his hot breath hit the scarf covering his face. _There goes that distraction,_ he thought bitterly, throwing himself out the window. He hit the fire escape on the adjacent building, quickly jumping to the next railing, and flinging his body to the roof, stumbling a few steps before breaking out into a sprint. _Maybe... I can use this as an opportunity to find out if Blue is really Jay or not._

 

* * *

 

Kai landed silently on the building across from the art museum, somersaulting to ease the momentum he built on the sprint over. His and Nya’s apartment was pretty close to the center of town, so it didn’t take long for him to reach the destination. Still, he realized that he was the last to arrive, spotting Blue and Green waving him over to the roof’s edge. Kai stood up from his crouch and dusted off the dirt and gravel from his clothes as he made his way over to his teammates. He purposefully didn’t look at Blue.

“Sorry I’m late,” He said once he was in earshot. He crouched back down as he neared them, crawling forward on his stomach to match Green and Blue, peering over the building’s edge down to the art museum. The first thing he noticed were the police cars parked strategically around the front, lights flashing but engines cut. _Obviously no immediate emergency, then_. Several cops stood around the large steps and columns leading into the building, most talking to civilians, some taking notes. The front doors were blocked off with caution tape. “So what’s the sitch,” He asked in a low whisper. “Looks like we already missed the action.”

“That’s because we did.” Green answered, turning to face Kai and Blue. “The cops did too, though. There was a robbery last night at around eleven thirty. No one even realized anything was missing until they started prepping for opening this morning.”

“Well no wonder we missed it,” Blue grumbled- and _god_ , there was absolutely no denying that it was Jay’s voice, and Kai just barely kept himself from flinching at the recognition- “It happened at the same time as the bank robbery last night. There’s no way we could have been here even if the perp _was_ caught in action.”

“Exactly.” Green’s voice was grim.

“What, you think the bank robbery was a diversion?” Kai asked, trying to keep his mind focused in the moment. He called into this, and a distracted ninja was no good in the field. Jay’s wide eyes were- _Blue’s. Blue’s wide eyes are distracting me._ Kai mentally corrected himself.

“It matches up too perfectly to be a coincidence. Wu ran diagnostics on the robbers from last night,” Green held out his wrist, rolling up his sleeve to reveal his Borg Watch and flicked on the holo screen, pulling up mugshots and criminal histories of the group they defeated last night. “None of their histories match up. They shouldn’t have any business knowing each other, yet they all grouped together to pull this ill planned heist. Someone put them up to it.”

Kai swore under his breath. “Well, shit. I was hoping we’d finally catch a break form organized crime.”

“And lemme guess, the guys that organized it were the same that snuck into the museum last night to steal- what, a painting?” Blue asked.

“An oni mask.” Green played with the projection from his watch, and pulled up a 3d render for the mask that was stolen. “It’s a relic from ancient Ninjago, and part of a set of three, so we have an idea of where they’ll be striking next.”

“Ok, but do we have any idea who _they_ are?” Kai asked, studying the hologram of the mask intently, mentally going over the past crime lords they’d dealt with. _Pythor? Chen?_

“Or why they even want the masks? If the other two look anything like that one, I can’t imagine going through all the trouble.” Blue leaned closer to Green’s wrist, squinting his eyes. “It’s kinda ugly.”

Green shut off his holo, lowering his hand. “We can go over all of that back at the Bounty,” He whispered, glancing across the street again. “I’ll have to explain all of this to the rest of the team as well.”

“So why call us here if there’s no action?” Kai asked, following Green’s gaze to the police milling about in front of the museum.

“A ninja’s work isn’t just beating up the bad guys, Red.”

Blue snorted in laughter. Kai glared at him and immediately regretted it, because now all he could picture was Jay’s nervous face hiding under the blue hood. Kai quickly looked back down the building.

“I want all of us to sneak in the building and copy the security footage, and search the scene for clues the police might have missed.” Green continued.

“What, you want us to get hard copies of the security? Why can’t we just get White to hack in?” Blue questioned, but Kai only half heard him, eyes drawn to a large black car turning down the street they were on.

Kai heard Green shift in place. “Well, we’re already going in to observe the scene. And White didn’t show up- you guys did.”

The black car pulled up to the museum, parking beside the police. Blue snorted. “Geeze, we should mod our watches more so we can do private calls as well as team-wide calls. It wouldn’t be hard to change, I could code it in and update everyone’s in an hour.”

“I-I don’t want to make anyone on the team feel singled out,” Green confided, shifting in place again. Kai narrowed his eyes, trying to discern the man climbing out of the car. An officer jogged over to him, and the two began talking with wild hand motions.

“What, if you were trapped under a peice of building, would you call an emergency level two and just hope that Black was the one to pick it up? We all have specific strengths, it’s good to-”

“ _Guys,_ ” Kai interrupted, holding up a hand to silence Blue’s chattering. “Is that the mayor?”

The two looked with wide eyes at Kai, then down to the man talking with police. The passenger door opened, and a young girl with white hair stepped out, holding her hand over her eyes to block the sunlight and she stared over the scene.

“Holy shit, yeah, and that’s Princess Harumi.” Blue whispered, flattening further to the roof and leaning forward to get a better glimpse. “What the hell are they doing here?”

Kai cringed. “ _Please_ don’t call her that. She’s like, fourteen.”

Blue glared at Kai. “I didn’t mean anything weird by it! That’s just what people call her! You’re the one who made it weird.”

“Alright, cut the chatter.” Green interrupted, reaching into his belt. “Temporary change of plan, I’m going to get as close as I can and bug them to catch what’s happening. Equip your ear pieces on an open channel and lay low until we know the full situation.” Kai and Blue nodded.

Green shimmied back from the edge of the building before standing up and jogging to the nearest alley, not pausing in his step as he leaped off the edge to the streets below.

Kai dug through his belt, pulling out a small ear com and gingerly reaching under his hood to put it in place, careful to not let any more of his face show. _Especially around Blue, now, who might actually recognize me._

“Dontcha think it’s weird that Green called in two people in for this?” Blue asked quietly, also reaching in his hood to put his com in.

Kai paused before turning his earpiece on to answer Blue. Green might be their more conscious leader, sure, but this did seem like something that could be done as a solo mission. If Kai was on patrol, he wouldn’t have felt the need to call for backup. “I guess,” He whispered, biting his lip in thought. _But Green never told us who was behind all of this._ He didn’t voice the thought, not wanting Blue to think that Green was withholding information from them. Even if he might have been.

He pushed against his earpiece, hearing it beep once at it connected to Green’s, and again as it connected to Blue’s. “Red standing by.” He murmured.

“Blue standing by.” Blue repeated, a slight echo sounding between the Blue laying next to Kai and the Blue in his ear.

There was a moment's pause when nobody said anything.

“Green standing by,” Their leader said, as clear as if he was still laying with them. “I made it across the street. Approaching the mayor now.”

“Yo, dude, when?” Blue whispered excitedly. “I didn’t see you _at all_. That’s crazy.”

Kai elbowed his arm. “Dude, we’re _ninja_. Sorta in the job description.”

“ _Cut the chatter,_ ” Green hissed in their ears.

“Sorry.” Kai and Blue said at the same time, falling silent.

Kai studied the area around the Mayor, trying to pick out where Green was. The mayor and the police officer were still chatting away, while his daughter had left the side of the car, slowly walking around the large clearing in front of the museum doors- hesitant, as if she were afraid someone was going to yell at her for looking. Kai held back a snort. _She probably hasn’t seen police tape in person before. Why did the mayor even bring her?_

Out of the peripheral of his vision, Kai spotted a bush shake in the breeze- only he didn’t feel any wind ruffling his gi. He honed in on the bushes, grinning triumphantly to himself when he saw a flash of green dart out and hide behind a police car. _Found ya_.

He kept a close eye on their leader, watching him dash between covers as he slowly made his way close to the mayor.

“I’m within range,” Green whispered in Kai’s ear. “Planting the bug in-”

Gunshots fired twice in a row, and like a wave washing over them, everyone at ground level suddenly crouched down, heads turning frantically. A young girl screamed.

“What the fuck-” Kai’s eyes flew over to where they mayor’s daughter had been. A man with tattooed sleeves held her close to his chest with a burly arm wrapped around her neck, his other arm holding a handgun pointed to the sky. The half dozen of police surrounding him already had their guns drawn, pointing them at the man.

 _“Harumi!”_ The mayor cried out, sprinting to his daughter.

“Fuck, _fuck,_ ” Kai pushed himself to his feet, Blue scrambling up next to him. “Red and Blue engaging.” He took a few steps back, making brief eye contact with Blue. He gave a small nod, and the pair sprinted off of the building as the criminal holding Harumi shouted.

_“Drop your weapons! Everyone!”_

Kai pulled a wire from his belt as he dropped like a stone from the roof, wind ripping through his gi. They were only about twelve stories up, and approaching concrete fast.

_“What are you waiting for? Do as he says! Don’t point your guns at my daughter!”_

Kai tossed his wire at a hooked street lamp as he fell past it, catching the blur of Blue’s wire hitting the next lamp over. Almost immediately the wire tightened, slowing Kai’s fall several yards above the sidewalk. He used the remaining momentum to swing forward, hitting a button on the handle to wheel the wire back in as he flew across the street. He angled his other palm behind him to let loose a burst of flame, propelling him even further.

Before hitting the ground, he caught a glimpse of the mayor standing with his palms forward, coaxing the man holding the gun. The police had lowered their guns, and looked uncertain.

“I said drop your weapons!”

Kai landed in a roll, spotting a blur of blue landing a ways behind him. Following through the motion, he jumped up and pushed between two officers slowly setting their guns on the ground. _Really? Giving in to the bad guy so fast?_ He thought with a sneer, jumping into the front of the action, putting an arm over the mayor as he stepped in front of him.

“Get back,” He growled low, looking over his shoulder to shoot a practiced glare at the mayor. The graying man stumbled back, his eyes bulging at Kai’s sudden appearance and being shoved by the ninja. Blue caught up quickly, appearing at Kai’s right, immediately settling into a ready stance with electricity sparking from his knuckles.

“Here’s an idea, howsabout _you_ drop _your_ weapon, and you don't have to spend the night handcuffed to a hospital bed.” He taunted.

Kai wanted to hit Blue over the head. He loved cheesy quips as much as anyone on the team, but maybe half a dozen police and the mayor _wasn’t_ the best audience for them. He wasn’t even trying to disguise his voice.

The man holding the mayor’s daughter grinned wickedly, revealing rotting teeth. Now that they were eye to eye with him, Kai realized that half his face was tattooed like a skull. _Christ, how did this guy walk up to a herd of police in broad daylight?_

 _That’s what we’re here for._ Kai answered himself, sinking into a fighting stance next to Blue. “You should consider it,” He barked out, deciding to play along with Blue. “We won’t give you another chance.”

“ _Hah!_ ” The man coughed out the single syllable, his entire body convulsing. His arm tightened further around Harumi as the white haired girl stared wildly at the ninja, nails gripping against the man’s arm. “Like I’m going to listen to some teenagers wearing pajamas.” He snorted, rolling his wrist to lazily point the gun at the two boys.

Kai’s mind was already racing with the strategy of how to disarm him. They needed to narrow the distance between them and the criminal, drawing his fire while the police were _hopefully_ competent enough to grab the mayor. The ninja were practiced in evading bullets- they mayor, probably not as much. He glanced at Blue for a split second, reading the glint in his eyes and giving a quick, small jerk of his head. Immediately, the two split off in different directions, circling closer to the man.

Instead of picking one of the ninja to focus on, the man just as quickly placed the barrel of the gun against Harumi’s white temple. Kai and Blue immediately stopped their sprint, stumbling to a stop halfway across the distance they wanted to cover, with around twenty feet separating them from the criminal holding Harumi.

“Hands where I can see them,” The man growled. The young girl screamed, the sound muffled by his arm as she squirmed in his grasp, face becoming bright red as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“ _Harumi!_ ” The mayor cried behind them, quickly followed by indistinct shouting and grunting that Kai hoped was from the police holding him back from rushing the guy.

“ _Fuck._ ” Kai swore softly, gingerly raising his hands above his head. He glanced over at Blue standing a distance at his right doing the same. He hoped there were no civilians nearby to film this for the Wall of Shame.

“Alright, now we’re getting somewhere.” The man chuckled. “Now, you’re going to tell me-” He was cut off by a blast of green energy exploding at his back, propelling him forward and sending his gun flying. Kai and Blue immediately broke back into their sprint, making a B-line for the man as Green appeared next to the mayor's daughter, supporting her as she lost her balance and fell into his arms.

Blue reached the criminal first, though it was obvious by his stillness that the man was out cold. Green’s blast had cut clear through his leather vest and T-shirt, showing the freshly burned skin of his naked back. “Ouch, that must hurt.” Blue taunted, placing his knee directly at the center of the mark to roughly grab his wrists. The man cried out in pain- _Huh, maybe not fully unconscious then._

Kai kneeled by his face as Blue pulled out a zip tie to put his hands together. He grabbed the man's chin, roughly pulling his face up and examining him. “Who do you work for?” He asked, trying to force as much venom into his voice as he could. The man’s head lolled, his eyelids fluttering shut. “ _Who do you work for?_ ” Kai questioned again, more urgently, gripping the side of his face with the skull tattoo.

For an instant, the man’s face seemed to clear, and his eyes focused fully on Kai. He opened his mouth, breath unsteady from Blue’s weight on top of him. “ _Garmadon will rise again._ ” He whispered huskily.

Kai dropped his head like the man had burned him, nevermind that Kai’s skin was impervious to the heat. He stepped backward, his world flipping over for the second time that day. _Garmadon?_

Blue looked up at him with concern in his eyes. “What? What’d he say?”

Kai’s mouth opened under his mask, but he said nothing. A blur of gray suit rushed past him, and Kai watched the mayor pull his daughter into an embrace, sobbing loudly.

Green stumbled back, rubbing his neck and looking away.

Kai shook his head subtly at Blue. _Not here._

Blue nodded in understanding, stepping off of the criminal as the police came forward more cautiously than the mayor, hands hovering at their hips. The first to approach was holding out a pair of handcuffs.

“Oops, sorry, forgot you guys had those.” Blue said, folding his arms behind his head and one leg behind the other. “Already got him in a ‘zip. Sure you’re used to getting guys with those though, eheh.”

Several officers glanced at each other. Kai elbowed blue in the side. “ _Be nice,_ ” He hissed.

The police woman holding the cuffs took a step closer. “These aren’t for him.” She said gruffly, though Kai could clearly see her hesitation.

Still, he sunk into a defensive stance with Blue as a couple of the officers re-drew their guns, keeping them pointed at the ground for the moment.

 _Are we really going to have to fight our way out of here?_ Kai thought exasperatedly, though there was an edge of panic slicing his chest. They hadn’t ever fought with the police before. Sure, what they were doing was _technically_ illegal, but they’d worked in harmony alongside the police for years.

“What are you doing?” A man bellowed, making both Kai and Blue jump in surprise.

Now it was the mayors turn to step in front of the ninja, though Kai backed away from his hand, refusing to let the man touch him. The hand that wasn’t being held protectively in front of Kai and Blue was cradling his daughter close to his side and she sniffled into his suit.

Green joined them from behind, taping their shoulders to get their attention. “Turn off your comms,” He whispered, eyeing the police cars. Kai and Blue nodded, brining a hand to their ears to turn the device off through the fabric of their hood. He doubted that the police actually had the tech needed to hack into the team’s secure channels, but better safe than sorry.

“These ninja just saved my daughter! Holster your guns, all of you! Put those away,” He glared at the cop still hesitantly holding out handcuffs. She quickly hooked them back onto her belt, nodding at him. Two officers picked up the unconscious tattooed criminal and his gun, carrying him to a car.

“We should leave.” Green continued, but at the same time, the mayor turned back around to face the trio.

“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.” He reached forward to Blue, who was unlucky enough to be standing the closest to the man, and grasped his gloved hand in both of his withered ones, shaking feverishly. Blue’s entire arm shook with the force, his wide eyes showing that he wasn’t prepared for that kind of reaction.

“Uh, no problem?” He responded, glancing helplessly between Green and Kai. Kai shrugged.

The mayor finally dropped Blue’s hand and tried to reach for Green’s, but the leader stepped back firmly, sizing up against the old man despite being over a foot shorter than him. Kai backed up to stand beside him. _No way in hell you’re touching me._ He mentally threatened, hoping the mayor would see the message through his eyes.

The mayor let his hands drop, and also stepped back, nodding respectfully. “I am eternally grateful to you saving my daughter. And everyone at Borg last night. As well as the countless Ninjago citizens you have saved and criminals you have caught for us over the years.”

 _This is weird,_ Kai thought, shifting uncomfortably under the sudden praise. Green seemed the feel the same way, his eyes darting away from the mayor every few seconds. Blue, however, seemed to soak it in.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Blue commented, placing a hand on his hip. “We do what we gotta do.”

Green cast him a warning glare. “Yes, thank you.” He said to the mayor, voice slightly strained. “But we really must be leaving now.”

“Oh! But, aren’t you here for a reason?” The mayor held up his hands as if he were scared of them dashing away without warning.

 _Well, I guess we still might do that._ Kai figured, keeping a close eye on Green for the signal.

“Are you here to investigate the oni mask theft?” The man guessed, not pausing to let the ninja answer. “Why don’t we work together? I can have to police escort you inside-”

“ _No._ ” Green answered firmly, taking another step back. Kai blinked. Obviously they weren't going to do that, but why put so much venom in his answer?

“What? Why not?” Kai stared wide-eyed at blue. So did Green and the mayor. “What?” He asked again, defensively. “He’s right, we are here to investigate the mask-”

 _“Blue,_ ” Green hissed, glaring daggers at the ninja.

Blue fell silent, though Kai could see his eyes flash defensively. Green turned back to the mayor, shoulders incredibly stiff. _This is embarrassing,_ Kai thought. Looking at the mayor, he realized that his daughter had stopped crying, and was watching the conversation unfold with wide eyes, still hugging her dad's side. _Doubly embarrassing._

“Thank you for the offer, but we really have to leave now.” Green turned around, and Kai turned to follow, relieved.

“Wait-” Harumi dashed forward. Kai tensed, but the girl only gingerly picked up Green’s hand in her own, pulling it to her chest as she stared into his eyes. “Thank you, for saving me.” She whispered.

Green seemed frozen in place, only able to nod dumbly in response. Despite everything, Kai felt a laugh bubble in his chest. He’d have to make fun of Green for this later.

Harumi dropped Green’s hand, and the ninja dashed away in the direction that Green had snuck in. Emerging on the street, the trio quickly turned into the nearest alleyway and pulled themselves up the walls, pushing off of loose bricks and windowsills until they reached the roof. Kai brought up the rear, pulling himself up last.

Green didn’t speak a word, instead motioning with his hand to keep going, leading the way to jump onto the next roof. Kai and Blue shrugged at eachother, but followed diligently.

Only when they were several blocks away, and several stories higher, did Green finally slow, holding a hand up to signal for the others to stop.

Kai let out a puff of breath, placing his palm at the crook of his back and leaning backwards. “Well,” he broke the silence, straightening up. “That was weird.”

Green had his holo screen open, calling his bike to their current location. “Yeah,” He huffed, shutting his screen quickly and rubbing his small patch of visible face. “No kidding.”

“I don't get why we didn't go into the museum and finish the mission.” Blue complained, stretching an arm over his head. “We were right there.”

Green sighed. “We don't work with the police, Blue. You know that.”

“But why not?” He challenged.

Kai glanced between the two of them awkwardly. Green rubbed his face again, avoiding eye contact with either of them. “Because we get things done better than they do. Because they tried to arrest you before they offered to help. Because we can't let them _know_ all that we do.”

“Well, we sure didn't get a lot done today!” Blue shot back. Kai's head was spinning. Was this really worth an argument? “We don't have the security footage, we don't know why the mayor was there, and we don't know who's behind it!”

Green spun around quickly, eyes flashing as he glared up at the blue ninja. “ _You_ don’t know who's behind it.”

Blue blinked, eyes widening. “ _What?_ ”

“Alright team, cool it.” Kai intervened, stepping between the two of them.

Blue snorted, crossing his arms. “Really? Red the hothead is telling _us_ to cool it?”

“I know, weird, right?” Kai accepted the jab, turning to face their leader. “Green, if you know information pertinent to the mission, you _have_ to tell us beforehand.” He said slowly. Green broke eye contact, looking away. “Is there something you're keeping from us?”

A beat passed. Green inhaled slowly. “No. I told you everything I knew for certain going into the mission. It's just…” he trailed off, motioning vaguely with his hands. “A hunch. Was a hunch. I need to go over details with Wu before I can say.” The boy turned away, walking to the front of the building.

 _Garmadon will rise again._ Kai furrowed his eyebrows. Yeah, that was something that was worth talking over with Wu first. It was still frustrating though.

Blue sighed in defeat behind him. “Whatever, man. I just needed a win today. It sucks that we failed so badly.”

Green paused with a foot on the edge of the building, looking back at Blue. “I’ll DM White to copy the footage remotely next time he's on patrol. After he gets that back, we can schedule a time to all meet at the Destiny’s Bounty. Wu can explain everything then.”

The holo on Green’s wrist popped up, showing a map of the streets with a red dot approaching their location.

Kai nodded. “Don't keep us waiting.” He hesitated, debating whether this was a good time to bring up the other thing. _Fuck it._ “Nice save with the princess, by the way. She seemed pretty grateful.”

Green stepped off the building without answering, flashing Kai the middle finger before disappearing over the side. Kai laughed over the roar of Green’s engine coming to catch him in the streets below, listening to it eventually fade away.

“Woof,” Kai breathed, turning back to face Blue. “What a time, huh? At least we got a bit of action.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He responded, scuffing the roof with his foot.

Kai hesitated. He suddenly felt very exposed, the darkening sky stretching out above him as he stood alone on the top of a building with Blue. _With Jay._ “So, uh, how'd your first day go?” He asked, trying to sound casual.

Blue shrugged. “Alright, I guess. It's just really crowded. And loud.”

Kai hummed, looking away from him. “Yeah, uh, it's like that at my school too.”

Movement drew Kai’s eyes back to his partner, who was digging around in his belt. “Not to mention that the call came in right as I got out. I had to hide my backpack behind a dumpster and change in an alleyway!” He shivered over dramatically, pulling out his phone from his utility belt. Kai’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the blue earbuds trailing behind it. “I hope nobody stole my stuff,” Jay continued, turning away from Kai.

The Red Ninja stared completely dumbstruck as Jay casually scrolled through his music, fitting his buds into his hood. “Ah, forgot the com.” He complained, pulling out the small device. “Hey, you got any song reqs?” he asked suddenly, turning back to look at Kai.

He looked completely ridiculous, Kai thought, with the earbuds wires sticking out of his tight hood. They really were a close match in color, though. “Uh, Panic at the Disco?” He tried, reaching for the first thing that came to his jumbled mind.

Jay snorted, wrinkling his eyes. “Really? Are you gonna recommend Twenty One Pilots next?”

Despite the familiar banter, the numbness at the corner of his mind refused to dissipate. “So what if I did?”

Jay turned away, shrugging. “Oh, nothing. If I wanted boy bands, though, I would’ve asked your sister.”

Kai was still staring at the blue earbuds, only half present in the conversation. “Gray doesn't really listen to music.”

“Oh well. Later, Red.” Jay rolled his shoulder before breaking off in a jog, picking up speed to leap onto the next building over, and running along that one until he fell to a lower roof, disappearing from sight.

Kai stared dumbly after him. “Bye, Jay.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ACTION HEAVY CHAPTER IM SORRY GUYS HJKDHGLAK I'll try to put more of the promised Identity Hijinks(tm) into ch3!!!
> 
> Tags have been updated to include all the new shit in this chapter that'll be expanded on more later!! SKYLORS HERE AND I LOVE HER  
> Not sure if I made it clear last chapter, but the Wu in this fic is definitely more withered and bitter than he is in the show. Hopefully I'll find space to explain why kdfjhalskdfh PLEASE ENJOY THANK U SO MUCH @ EVERYONE THAT COMMENTED AND LEFT KUDOS IM V GLAD U LIKE THIS BC ITS VERY SELF INDULGENT and I super hope you like where I go with it and you keep reading!! ;v;//

Kai leaned against the railing of his school's second floor, staring down at the sea of students flooding out the front doors. One in particular stood out to him, flattened against the wall with blue earbuds plugged in his ears, dully watching high schoolers push past in the rush to leave.

Kai sunk down to rest his cheek on his arm, a mix of emotions swirling through his chest. He’d been purposefully avoiding Jay the past few days after confirming his identity, but at the same time, he’d made sure to keep a close eye on him. He wanted to help his friend adjust to the new school, but he was also terrified that Jay would realize who he was. Besides, he was friends with _Blue_ , not with Jay. He had no idea how his civilian persona differed from his hero persona. What if Jay was totally different? What if he compromised their teamwork as Blue and Red by intruding on his personal life?

If he was being honest with himself, he was really just curious to know who he really was. He had known and worked with Blue for years. Was it wrong for him to want to know more about Jay?

And as if dealing with all of those conflicting emotions wasn’t enough, he still hadn’t had any contact from Green since the attack at the art museum. In fact, the entire city had seemed to become eerily still. It made Kai nervous, like something was lurking, waiting to hit big. Jay shifted in his place against the wall, dropping his grip on his backpack straps and stuffing his hands in his pockets. Kai wondered if he was feeling the same restlessness from their leader’s radio silence that he was.

“What cha’ lookin at?”

Kai jolted upright and spun around. “ _Jesus_ , Tox, stop doing that.” _Someone with neon green hair has no right to be as sneaky as she is._ He put a hand on his chest, trying to slow his pounding heart.

The girl snickered, stepping up to rest on the railing next to Kai. “Are you still following Jay around without talking to him?”

Kai stared wide eyed at Tox. He thought he had been being sneaky about it.   _I’m supposed to be a ninja,_ he chastised himself. Maybe Tox had the potential to be an elemental master too. “I’m not following him,” He mumbled, looking back down at the first floor. Jay had his phone out now, scrolling through something. “I just keep seeing him around.”

“Uh huh,” Tox grunted, wholly unimpressed. “Dude, you got it _bad_.”

“Oh my god, _shut up_.” He shoved her shoulder, stepping a pace away from her. She cackled, and immediately stepped closer, re-closing the space between them.

“Seriously? You were literally speechless when Chamille showed him to you. I can’t imagine how you dealt after we left you two alone.”

 _You wouldn’t understand_. Kai bit his lip, refusing to say it out loud. Tox was annoying, but she wasn’t worth blowing his cover. “Better than when you were there, in all honesty.”

“Oh? So you admit it?”

Kai wanted to growl in frustration. There was no way he could explain his interest in Jay in a way that Tox would understand. “He seems cool.” He said instead, shrugging dismissively. “He seems like the type to make friends easily, but I haven’t seen him talking with anyone. Didn’t you have your class with him today?”

“Eh.” Tox shrugged, turning her back to the scene of students rushing to freedom, resting her elbows on the rail and leaning back. “Yeah, but I didn’t talk to him or anything.”

“Why not? He’s new, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

“I ain’t a part of the school committee! I don’t have to befriend every new kid that comes in.” She looked at her hands, absently picking at her nail polish. “Why’s he so interesting to you anyways, if it’s not his farm boy charm?”

“Farm boy charm?” Kai tore his eyes away from Jay, wrinkling his nose at Tox. “Where the hell did you get that from?”

“Come on, it’s obvious he doesn’t live in town. Answer the question, Smith.” She dropped her hands and shifted her body to face Kai, crossing her legs.

Kai turned back to look down at Jay. “Maybe I just want a friend who isn’t a scene kid? Natural hair has become under appreciated in our friend group.”

Tox shrugged, pushing away. “Whatever you tell yourself, dude. I gotta go re-take a test in the library, but if you want someone to talk to him, you’re a perfectly eligible someone. Make the first move! I believe in you!” She called, disappearing down a hallway and flashing him two finger guns and an exaggerated wink. Kai groaned, letting his forehead clink against the metal railing. Of course he looked like he was pining after the new kid. He couldn’t blame Tox for jumping to that conclusion, but it didn’t make it any less annoying or awkward.

Still, he _did_ want Jay to feel comfortable at school. If not to satisfy his own selfish curiosity, than so that he wasn’t distracted while they were on missions.

Again with the weak excuses. _I do want him to be comfortable in school, and I do want to get to know this version of him._ He pulled his head off the railing, rubbing his eyes dejectedly. _It's just too complicated._ He opened his eyes, noticing that the halls had cleared significantly. And, with a jolt, he realized that the spot where Jay had cornered himself was empty. Kai leaned over the rail, frantically searching though the remaining students milling around the halls.

He caught a glimpse of a head of curly auburn hair push the front doors open and disappear outside. With a lurch, Kai bolted for the stairs. _Why am I running?_ He asked himself, jumping down the steps two at a time until he landed at the ground floor and continued to run to the front doors.

He burst out, scanning the streets for signs of which way Jay had gone. He began walking forward, trying to recognize the boy from the several dozen other students still milling in front of the school or walking home. He was ready to continue the sprint in a random direction in hopes of catching up with him when-

“Kai?”

His body froze at the sound of Blue saying his name. He turned around slowly, finding Jay with one earbud in, sitting on top of the low concrete wall bordering the steps leading up to the school doors. He tried to shake off the shock gripping his chest, flashing Jay what he hoped came across as an easy smile. “Hey dude! Uh, what's up? How you been?” Kai asked, definitely not out of breath.

Jay cocked a notched eyebrow at him. “Uh, I'm alright. Why’d you just explode out of the school? Do you need to be somewhere?”

Kai flinched at the question. He was officially the least subtle ninja ever. “Uh, not really, I just-” He sighed, giving up trying to come up with an excuse. “I just saw you leaving and I wanted to catch up.” He confessed. “How’ve you been fitting in?”

Jay's eyes widened, and he tugged out his remaining earbud. “Oh! Well, that's nice of you.” He began fidgeting with the cord in his hands, glancing away from Kai’s face. “But nothing really noteable has happened the last few days. I mean, I haven't really talked to anyone since Chamille introduced me to you and Tox. I have gotten a lot of mileage out of these earbuds though!” He held them up, smiling a little sheepishly. “So thanks for them.”

Kai grinned, stepping closer to Jay. “Hey, it’s no prob. I’m glad you like 'em so much.”

Jay's eyes flashed for a second, and his eyebrows knit together slightly. “Did... you want them back? You did just say for my first day when you gave them to me, and I've held onto them for a while-”

“What? No, dude, keep them. I barely ever used them anyways.” Kai waved him off, shrugging. “They're getting more love from you than I ever gave. I'm really happy they’ve helped you out.”

The knot between his eyes vanished, and Jay smiled gratefully, unconsciously gripping the cord tighter in his hand. “Thanks.” He said again, voice sincere.

Kai grinned genuinely and rested an elbow on the wall Jay was sitting on. “So what’cha doin up here anyways? How'd you even get up without a stool?”

Jay blinked in surprise, and Kai mentally hit himself. _Stop acting so familiar. This is only your second time talking to him,_ He reminded himself. Red making fun of Blue’s height? Friendly banter. Kai making fun of Jay’s height? School yard bullying.

But a second later, Jay giggled, holding up a knuckle to his mouth as he smiled. “I'm stronger than I look.”

 _I know._ Kai mentally responded.

Jay repositioned himself to better face Kai before continuing his answer. “And I have over an hour until my train comes, so I was just gonna chill by the school and maybe do homework till then.”

Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Really? Doing your homework right after class? What’re you trying to be, _responsible?_ ”

Jay cocked his head slightly. “Uh, maybe? Is there a reason I should wait?”

“I’ve never done homework before 9 in my life,” Kai proudly proclaimed, puffing out his chest. Of course, that was mostly due to what he spent most of his afternoons _doing,_ but he was starting to become less concerned with Jay figuring that out. Or maybe he wanted Jay to figure it out.

Jay still looked confused. “Is that good?”

“I'm just barely scraping by.” Kai continued in the same proud tone, flashing a thumbs up.

Jay laughed again, dropping a hand on the wall for balance. “Well, if it works for you. I’m not really looking forward to doing a lot of this stuff anyways, so putting it off sounds pretty appealing in all honesty.” Jay confessed, nudging his bag. Kai wondered if Jay kept a spare gi in his school bag like Kai did.

 _Of course he does, he showed up at the art museum last Monday after school. He said he had to change in an alley._ Kai narrowed his eyes for a second, drawing his lips in a thin line as the thought. “You said you have an hour until you catch the train? Do you live far?” Only after hearing himself say it out loud did Kai realize what he was asking. As if it wasn't bad enough that he knew his civilian persona, now he was asking Jay where he lived?

Jay shrugged, gesturing vaguely in a direction. “Just outside of the city.”

 _Farm boy charm,_ Tox’s voice echoed in Kai's head. He ignored her as best he could. He had no idea that Blue had such a long commute every time he showed up for ninja work in town. “Do you come into Ninjago often?” He asked, guessing that he already knew the answer.

Jay looked away, gesturing vaguely with his hand again. _Thought so._

“Eh, sometimes? I don't really, like, go anywhere when I do though. It’s usually just for, ah, business.”

 _Subtle._ Kai creased his eyebrows. “What, but you’ve at least been to all the tourist spots, haven’t you?”

Jay shrugged. “I’ve seen ‘em. I just, y’know, usually go into town for work.”

“Have you been to Boba?”  
“Boba?”

Kai gestured with his hands, vaguely pantomiming a cup. “You know, the drinks with little balls in em?”

“Yeah, I mean, I know what boba is. I just, didn’t know it was also a location?”

Kai pointed excitedly down the street. “Dude, we should go! It’s just a block away from campus, I swear you won’t regret it.”

Jay’s eyes widened, a small smile starting to pull at his lips. “What, right now?” And just as fast, the smile disappeared, and his shoulders slumped slightly. “Oh, but I- uh, don’t have any money.” He said, pulling his knees closer to his body.

Kai shrugged. “That’s fine, I can get you one.”

“Really?” Jay shook his head. “No, wait, I can’t let you do that. I already stole your headphones.”

“Hey, I gave those to you.” Kai reminded him, furrowing his brow.  “And it’d hurt my pride more if you refused my generous offer of boba than it’ll hurt my wallet. Dude, come on, one time offer. Let’s go.” He motioned for Jay to jump down, but the boy didn’t move, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Are you sure?” He asked hesitantly, shoulders slowly relaxing.

“Why not? A teachers gonna get mad at you if they catch you sitting on the wall anyways, so you can’t hide up there forever.”

“What!” Jay squeaked, grabbing his backpack and quickly sliding down, landing next to Kai perfectly. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner that I wasn’t supposed to be up there?” He accused, pulling his backpack on and shooting Kai a small pout.

Kai chuckled, raising a hand to clap him on the shoulder before thinking twice and shoving it in his jacket pocket instead. “You looked comfy. And students climb it all the time, so it’s not a really big deal.”

Jay shoved Kai’s shoulder lightly, stepping past him with an easy grin. “Still rude of you. Picking on the new kid.”

Kai shrugged, leading the way down the school steps to the city streets. “What can I say, I’m a delinquent.” He grinned back at Jay.

Jay’s grin faltered, and he looked away slightly. “Oh, and uh, I wasn’t _hiding_ up there, by the way. I just like being in high places. It’s relaxing to me, if that makes sense?” He phrased it as a question, glancing back at Kai out of the corner of his eye as the pair walked down the sidewalk.

Kai nodded, smiling gently. “Nah, I get you. Makes perfect sense to me.”

\--

Gasping, Kai jolted upright, eyes flying open to see nothing but darkness. He sat still for several seconds breathing heavily until he recognize the vibrating sensation on his wrist. He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose as he let himself fall backwards, landing back into his bed with a small bounce. Blearily he raised his wrist and blindly tapped the watch screen, squeezing his eyes shut at the bright blue light of the hologram popping up.

Through the wall, he heard something large hit the floor. A few seconds later, Nya groaned loudly. Kai chucked to himself as he slowly wrestled his eyes open, trying to read the notice.

 

**_Team wide call issued at 4:23 am by Green_ **

_Location: HQ_

_Reasoning: new organized crime syndicate on the rise. Everyone need to be briefed. pls send a message to rsvp_

 

Kai groaned loudly, echoing his sister. He threw the covers off his body, hoping the chill of his room would motivate him to move. Still fighting to hold his eyes open, he stumbled to switch tabs to the group chat.

 

 **_04:23 - White:_ ** _I will be there shortly._

 **_04:23 - Black:_ ** _why didnt you issue this three minutes earlier_

 **_04:23 - Blue:_ ** _green are you fcking serious_

 ** _04:23_** **_-_** **_Black:_** _and u call urself the GREEN ninja :/_

 **_04:23 - Blue:_ ** _weve been waiting almost a week why do u have to do this now, at this hour_

 **_04:24 - Gray:_ ** _askdjdbc_

 

Nya pounded her fist against their shared wall. “Kaaaaaiii,” She called out, voice still heavy with sleep. “Wakey wakey, crime and… bakey.”

Kai sent a quick emoji of a sad face in the group chat, moaning loudly again at his sister. Though, maybe now it was more akin to a wordless yell. He stretched his arms above his head, relishing in the precious few remaining moments he had with his bed

Then, he rocked backwards, swinging his feet up and launching himself out of bed, quickly reaching his dresser and beginning to change. He was already shirtless, so he tossed on his top gi before changing his into pants. He heard Nya’s bedroom door click open, and a few seconds later she was pounding on his door. “You decent?” She called inside.

“No.” Kai lied, looping his utility belt onto his pants.

“We should eat breakfast before we leave. Doubt we’ll be going back to bed after this.” Nya said, voice fading away from his door as she moved into the kitchen. Kai tried peering into the mirror on his dresser, the low light of the city bleeding in through his curtains being the only source of light in his room. He watched his silhouette fashion the bandana around his neck and pull the hood over his sleep-ridden hair.

His mind slowly traced back to the afternoon he had spent with Jay, drinking boba and walking around the city, chatting until Jay realized the time and had to sprint away to catch his train. It was fun at the time- lots of fun, actually. Kai never realized how much the looming threat of crime weighed down on every interaction he had with his teammates until he could interact with one of them without it- but thinking back on the afternoon now, Kai felt heavy with guilt. _I shouldn't have played with him like that._ Even if he didn't know it, Jay was his close friend, and he was breaking the trust put on that friendship by hanging out with him as Kai.

And now he was going to see him again, as Red, and Blue would have no recollection of Boba or walking down Ninjago’s streets together. That was Kai’s and Jay’s day. Now, he was Red, going to see Blue and the rest of the team for a long awaited briefing. If he was going to keep seeing him at school, he'd have to recognize where the line fell between Kai and Jay versus Red and Blue, and quickly learn to never cross it.

His door swung open, Nya standing in the frame. “ _God,_ how do you still take so long to get ready when you don't even have to do your hair and makeup.” She complained, stepping in his room to shove an unpeeled banana in his hand, holding one for herself in her other. “I have to put on my falsies and I'm still faster. What the hell, dude.”

Kai shot his sister a half hearted glare, following her out of his room. “You didn’t even check to see if I was still getting ready that time. And it takes _time_ to look this good.”

“We have the same uniform. Your color doesn't make a difference in how fast it takes to put it on.”

Kai scoffed and peeled his banana open, resting his elbows on the kitchen island. He peered into a nearby cup. “Coffee?” He asked hopefully.

“Tea.” Nya responded, picking up her own cup and clinking it against the one closer to Kai. “Drink up. We shouldn't keep the team waiting long.”

Kai made a face, but sipped his drink without complaining. “Not like there’s an emergency.” He muttered.

“Sure, but I wanna know what this new crime circle is all about. Seriously, who takes the _mayor’s daughter_ hostage in broad daylight in front of a dozen armed police?” Nya played with her tea bag absently, determinedly staring into her cup.

Kai hummed in response, too tired to respond. He’d been fighting with the same thoughts all week. Still, why did Green decide to make the call so damn early? Couldn’t it wait till morning?

They sat in silence for a minute, finishing breakfast in their dim apartment, slowly coming to. Once they had both finished, Nya walked to the wall, unlatching the window while Kai tossed their peels in the trash. As he made his way over, Nya pulled her mask up to cover her nose.

“Ladies first,” Kai motioned to the window, doing a small half bow when his sister didn’t move.

Nya snorted. “Whatever. I won’t wait up for you, though.” And then she was gone, quickly squeezing through the frame and flying to the adjacent building.

Kai watched her leap up the fire escape while pulling up his own mask, breathing in deeply before following behind his sister.

Contrary to her words, Kai found her waiting for him on the roof, lookout out over the bright city lights.

“Sure is pretty out. You gotta give it that,” Nya commented, motioning to the neon lights and sprawling city scape spread before them.

“You waited for me,” Kai sang in a teasing voice, jabbing Nya in the side. She curled in at the motion, squeaking. “You loooove me.”

“Fuck off,” Nya laughed, shoving him away. “Come on, let’s go north a couple blocks before we call our bikes.”

Kai nodded, letting Nya take the lead in traversing over the rooftops and surrounding buildings. He wondered how he had ever thought to be a Ninja without her. He wondered how he had ever thought he could’ve kept being a ninja a _secret_ from her. _A knife slice down the arm and some poor judgement ruined that pretty fast._ He let his mind wander, wondering how the other ninja dealt with keeping their secrets from their families. Obviously better than Kai did. He wondered about what Jay’s family was like, and how he would have to sneak out and race all the way across the city to meet with everyone. He told himself to stop wondering about Jay.

Nya finally slowed down, stopping on the low roof of a convenience store. Kai pulled up his holo after her, calling his bike to their location. He walked to the front of the building, joining Nya in sitting down with her legs swinging over the edge. He switched to the group chat to catch up on the conversation, leaning back on his other arm.

 

 **_04:24 - Red:_ ** _:(_

 **_04:24 - Green:_ ** _u all said something so that means ur all coming_

 **_04:25 - Green:_ ** _sry i dont make the trules_

 **_04:25 - White:_ ** _trules_

 **_04:25 - Black:_ ** _trules_

 **_04:25 - Green:_ ** _RULES_

 **_04:27 - Blue:_ ** _trules_

 **_04:30 - Gray:_ ** _trules_

 **_04:30 - Red:_ ** _trules_

 **_04:30 - Green:_ ** _:(_

 

“Hey Ninja!” Kai quickly shut off his holo, leaning forward to look down at the sidewalk. A young man stood in front of the convenience store, holding up his cellphone to them as his friends huddled to the side, glancing between him and the siblings sitting on the roof with wide eyes. “Can I get a selfie?” He asked, shaking his phone back and forth.

Kai immediately grinned widely. “Hell yeah!” He called down, vaulting down to the sidewalk.

“Red,” Nya warned as he disappeared off the roof.

Kai nailed a three point landing, earning small shouts of surprise from the man and his friends. Kai looked back up at the roof, seeing his sister still hesitating at the edge.

“C’mon Gray, who are we to deprive this nice citizen of a selfie?” He called up to her, waving her down.

Nya’s dark outline rolled her head before slipping off the roof and landing next to Kai. “Alright, we got time for a quick picture.” She relented, standing up to dust off her legs. Kai noticed the small wrinkles under her eyes contradicting her tone. They turned back to the man, who had momentarily been frozen, but was now hurriedly fumbling with his phone.

“Holy shit, thank you guys so much.” He gushed, turning his back to them and holding up his phone. Kai was almost as tall as the man was, but they had to crouch down slightly to accommodate for Nya. Kai smilied- not that his mouth was visible under the mask anyways- and flashed a peace sign as the man tapped his screen once, capturing the picture. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw then man’s friends taking a picture of them taking the selfie.

They pulled away as the man lowered his phone. “Nice one.” Nya complimented. Kai began to hear the familiar roar of their bikes approaching from several blocks away.

“Holy shit, oh my god.” The man laughed, running a hand through his short hair. “Thank you guys so much, I mean, really-”

“No prob, dude.” Kai grinned, lightly punching him on the shoulder as he walked past him to the street.

“Stay safe, alright?” Nya added, their motorcycles appearing around the corner.

The man nodded quickly, eyes still blown wide. “Oh, yeah, of course-” He cut himself off as Kai and Nya’s bikes slowed, pulling up beside them. “Holy shit.” He breathed as they hopped on.

“Later.” Kai gave him a two finger salute before revving his engine loudly and speeding away. Under the roar of his and Nya’s engines, he caught a glimpse of the man in his rearview mirror turning to face his friends and shouting.

_“Ok, Red and Gray are my new favorites! Holy shit!”_

Kai laughed loudly as they drove off, pulling alongside Nya to flash her a thumbs up. He saw the smile in her eyes as she returned it, and they pair weaved their way between traffic as they sped off to the Destiny’s Bounty.

The city docks where as empty as they always were. Unlike the last time they had visited, Kai leisurely steered his bike through the warehouses and cargo containers stacked on top of eachother, Nya following close behind. He let his mind wander again as they drew closer to the Destiny’s Bounty, refocusing on the reason they were there in the first place.

Green had withheld information from him and Jay at the art museum. It was a dick move, but it didn’t really impact the mission in the end, he guessed. Even if he didn’t know for certain, it wasn’t like Green to keep things from the team. When they had taken down Chen last year, they were all constantly spitballing with each other as they worked out his motives and his plans, and they had only managed to take him out by working seamlessly together. Why was Green throwing a wrench in their system now?

Kai counted four other bikes parked outside of the Bounty as he pulled in, showing that he and Nya were the last to arrive. He cut his engine and popped his kickstand, stepping off. His hand lingered on the bike as he stepped away. He stared intently at his motorcycle’s dash, brows furrowed deeply.

_Garmadon will rise again._

“Let’s go, bro.” Nya tapped his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts. He shook his head to clear it and followed his sister into the warehouse.

Kai first noticed Jay and Black wrestling with each other on the couch- more or less the same picture as always, with Black pinning down Jay while the Blue Ninja violently thrashed about, occasionally wriggling out of his grip to push against his teammate’s face before he was caught in another hold.

White was sitting on a beanbag, watching the fight with mild interest. He glanced away and waved at Kai and Nya as they approached. Kai returned the wave half heartedly, looking over at Wu’s desk. Their old Sensei still sat with his back turned to the ninja, huddled close to Green, the two of them discussing something quietly between themselves.

“Hey White. Hope we’re not late.” Nya greeted, falling into a bean bag next to the nindroid. Kai stood by the couch with his arguing teammates, casting nervous glances at the table with Wu and Green.

“You are not.” White reassured them. “Blue only got here a few minutes ago, but he quickly got into a fight with Black about what should be playing on the TV while we waited for you two.”

Kai glanced at Jay and Black, who hadn’t even seemed to notice his and Nya’s arrivals yet, and down at the carpet. “The remote’s just sitting on the floor.” He commented.

White shrugged, fluorescent eyes lighting up a shade brighter. “I grabbed it and turned off the TV. I find this much more entertaining.”

Nya laughed and pushed at his shoulder. “The robot’s into blood sport. Who’da guessed.”

White’s eyes betrayed his smile. “By the way, I am very upset with you. Your picture from the Borg robbery has no place on The Wall of Shame. I admit that it's a nice photo, but you understand why I had to take it down.”

“Awh man!” Nya pouted, turning to the wall. Black cried out as Jay kneed him in the stomach. “Red put it up for me after I left, I never even got to see it.”

“I’m glad to see that everyone’s made it.” Kai jumped slightly at the sound of Wu’s voice. He turned to see the old man standing sagely behind the ninja, Green fidgeting next to him.

His presence was enough to pull Jay and Black out of their skuffle, and the two quickly straighten up on the couch, fixing their twisted gi.

“Oh, uh, hey guys.” Black greeted, looking between Kai and Nya.

Blue waved bashfully at Nya. Both she and Kai rolled their eyes in tandem.

“If you are quite finished,” Wu jutted in, stepping through his students to stand in front of the TV so everyone was circled around him. Green moved to follow, but paused suddenly at the arm of the couch. He twitched his hands before dropping them at his side, standing rigidly.

Kai wanted to ask him if he was alright, but he was too eager to hear what Wu had to say to delay any longer. So, Kai leaned against the opposite couch arm, crossing his arms and legs. “Alright Sensei. Tell us what’s going on.” He said, not caring if he sounded impatient. He was impatient.

Wu cast him a warning glare, and cleared his throat before beginning. “As I'm sure you’ve all heard by now, this incident began with the theft of the first oni mask at the art museum last Sunday night. It occurred at the same time as the Borg robbery, so it's highly probable that the two were related, with the robbery being set as a distraction. Green called Blue and Red to the scene the next day to retrieve the security footage and to investigate, but were unable to complete the mission when the mayor's daughter was taken hostage. White was sent to copy the footage remotely, and I’ve since reviewed it.”

Kai drummed his fingers against his arm. _I know all of this. What I don't know is_ who _took the mask, why they took it, and why it’s all got Green so jumpy._

“Green.” Wu motioned for the boy to join him. Green flinched slightly at being called, but strode forward. He held out his wrist and pulled up the hologram of the mask he had shown Kai and Jay at the museum.

“This is the mask that was taken.” Green began, eyes trained on the hologram, not making contact with any of the other ninja. “It’s the first of a trio: the mask of vengeance.” Green hesitated for a few seconds. Wu said nothing.

“A-and the other two are the mask of hatred and the mask of deception.” He swiped his finger across the hologram, quickly flipping through the other masks.

“Those are plesent names.” Black snorted from the couch.

“What is the history behind the masks?” White questioned.

Green hesitated again before explaining slowly. “This one- the mask of hatred- is said to grant its wearer strength. The mask of deception,” Green swiped backwards, pulling up the model of the second mask again. “is meant to grant the wearer wisdom. And the mask of vengeance-” Again, he flipped back to the first. “for emotion.”

Nya was leaning forward on her beanbag, studying the hologram intently. “And that’s the one that was taken?”

Green nodded, still staring at his wrist. “Yes.”

“Ok, so if they're got the first mask, they're probably gonna go for the other two, right?” Kai asked.

Black leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “If we know where they are, we can guard them until they show up next, or move them somewhere to lure them out.”

“By the way, whose _they?_ Do we have a name to go with the bad guy yet? Or a reason _why_ they're going after these ugly masks?” Jay spoke up finally, staring directly at Green.

Green didn't answer. He kept his eyes low, avoiding the team’s gaze.

Wu cleared his throat, answering for their leader. “Close examination of the security footage procured by White confirmed my earlier suspicions. It's a rising criminal organization calling themselves the _Sons of Garmadon_.”

Half the team spluttered in response. Nya half stood out of her seat before freezing, as if she forgot what she wanted to do, and slowly sat back down.

“ _Garmadon_?” White questioned, narrowing his eyes. “You mean-”

“My brother, yes.” Wu nodded. Green let his wrist fall, switching off the hologram. He kept his gaze lowered as he picked his way back to the couch, leaning against the other armrest and crossing his arms tightly.

“Why are they calling themselves that?” Black demanded, gripping his knees.

“We'd have to ask one of them to fully know the answer.” Wu said, voice as steady as ever. It was hard to tell with all the wrinkles, but Kai wondered if he saw tension in the corners of his sensei’s eyes. “But their name does give us insight to their motives.”

Kai’s blood suddenly turned to ice. _Garmadon will rise_. “They… want to bring back your brother?” He guessed, not wanting to say it out loud.

Wu nodded. The ninja were silent. “The story states that the three oni masks, with the power of strength, wisdom, and emotion, have the power to grant life to those who have lost it. It is unclear if it’s purely legend or if the masks do hold mystical properties, but with the information we have, I believe it's a safe assumption to make that their motives are to resurrect Garmadon.”

“No fucking way,” Jay breathed out, falling backwards and making the couch bounce. “Bring back _Garmadon?_ Seriously? He's been dead for what, twenty years?”

Wu nodded wearily. Kai could see the strain in his eyes increasing. “Closer to thirteen, but yes, approximately. I'm sure you all don't need a history lesson to remember the atrocities my brother committed on Ninjago after his corruption and fall to evil.”

Kai did not. “Ok, so we just stop them from getting all three masks and we're good then, right?”

Wu shook his head. “You must cut off the snake’s head to truly defeat it. Even if we procure the second and third masks before they did, they would continue searching and continuously wreck havoc until brought to justice.”

“Well, finding the other masks seems like a good start at least.” Black pointed out. “Where are they?”

Green spoke up suddenly, still hunched over and avoiding eye contact. “The mask of vengeance has been lost for hundreds of years, no one knows where it is. The mask of deception is owed by the mayor of Ninjago.”

“What? Seriously?” Jay asked incredulously. “Why does he have it?”

Green shrugged. “He bought it at an art auction years ago. I doubt he even knew what it was at the time.”

Jay scoffed. “Rich people.”

Without warning, a loud burst of static and shouting exploded from Wu’s desk. Within seconds, Wu and the ninja were all sprinting to the desk, briefing put on hold.

Wu slid into his chair and immediately began tuning the dials on the radio, clearing it enough for the voices to become legible.

“ _-on Eighth and Barber, at Ninjago King’s apartments. At least a dozen armed criminals have been reported with guns and swords. Heavy backup required, motive unknown-”_

“They're going after the second oni mask.” Green stated quickly, leaning back from the radio. “The mayor owns the top floor of the Ninjago King's complex. It must be the Sons of Garmadon.”

“Great timing.” Kai growled, pushing away from the table. “Let's go.”

“Take your weapons with you.” Wu ordered, pulling a thick pair of headphones over his bald head and dragging his laptop closer.

Everyone raced past the Med Bay and the training equipment to reach the stand holding their supply of weapons. Kai grabbed his katana and pulled the strap over his shoulder as everyone tore out the front of the Bounty, racing across the pavement.

“Wait.” Green called as they neared their bikes. “This might be another distraction to lure us away from the real threat, like what happened at Borg.”

Kai flung himself on top of his bike, but waited to start it up. “What are they distracting us from?” He asked, gripping his bike’s handles impatiently. “The mayor owns the mask. They're attacking the mayor’s house. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.”

Green hesitated for just a moment before his eyes cleared. “No they’re not! They mayor’s personal home is outside of Ninjago city, just a short ways away. The apartment is where he stays to work, but his family stays in their home. He may have moved the mask to his house.”

“Or he’s always kept it there.” White suggested, pulling his helmet off his bike seat and into his hands.

“So where do we go?” Jay asked, bouncing on his heels next to his bike. “The report said at least a dozen guys at the apartments, we can't just abandon those people on a hunch.”

“We split up.” Green answered firmly. “Black and White with me, to go to the mayor's house on the outskirts of Ninjago. Red, Gray, and Blue, you take the bait and save the mayor. Everyone comm up and keep us updated.”

Nobody questioned Green’s orders, reaching into their belts and fitting their earpieces under their hoods.

Kai started u[ his engine as everyone else hopped on their bikes. His watch flashed, and the screen popped up with a route through Ninjago outlined in red.

Wu’s voice carried through Kai’s ear. “I've sent directions of the fastest route to your destinations to each of you. Gray’s team, Police have an ETA of eleven minutes. Take care of as much as you can before they get there.”

“Alright, let's get some action!” Kai cried out, revving his engine.

“Keep us updated.” Green repeated, staring at Kai, Nya, and Jay. “If the house is empty, we’ll race to give you backup as soon as we can.”

“You got it, Boss.” Nya said, saluting Green.

The two groups broke off from each other, engines roaring as they raced in different directions.

Kai, Jay, and Nya quickly broke out of the cargo docks and onto the main streets, reentering the towering buildings of Ninjago. They tore through the city, the earlier crisp night air suddenly dark and heavy.

Kai brought his hand up to his comm. “Hey, how come Wu said _Gray’s_ Team? Why does she gets to be the leader?”

His sister’s voice carried through his ear as he saw her bike weave in front of his. “Uh, maybe ‘cus I’m a better ninja than you are?”

“Pfft, as if. I have seniority! Doesn’t that count for anything anymore?”

“Keep the communication lines clear, Ninja.” Wu’s voice chastised them.

“Sorry, Sensei.” Nya apologized for them.

“Oooh, somebody’s in trouble.” Black’s voice broke in.

“ _Black,”_ Green growled over the comms.

“We’re nearing our destination.” Nya interrupted. Kai saw her hand lower from her hood as the tall apartment building came into view. Though the top disappeared into the darkness of the night, Kai could instantly see that the building was _very_ high class. Several dinged up cars without licence places were parked on each side of the building, parallel in the road to block traffic.

Nya, still in the lead of Kai and Jay, steered onto the sidewalk opposite of the apartments to avoid the cars without slowing her speed. Kai and Jay followed her lead. As they passed in front of the destination, all three ninja leaped off their bikes and rolled to a standstill, letting their motorcycles drive off by themselves. Without a moment's pause the trio leaped back up and sprinted to the doors of the apartments.

Three armed people stood at the doors, each with sleeve and skull tattoos on their faces similar to the man that had taken Harumi. Before they had the chance to get over the shock of the sudden appearance of the ninja, Nya sent a torrent of water cascading into each of them, slamming them into the glass doors.

The criminals quickly recovered, coughing and spluttering as they stood up and staggered forward- but by then, the ninja had reached them. Kai aimed a blow at the woman on the left, seeing her eyes widen the split second before his fist collided with her jaw. She reeled back as Nya and Jay engage with the other two villains.

Despite being soaked and disoriented, the tattooed woman drew the sword from her belt, brandishing it infront of her as she squared up against Kai.

“Oh ho, big mistake.” The Red Ninja taunted, relishing the feeling of drawing his own sword from his shoulder, gripping it tightly in both hands. “I’m quite the swordsmen myself, you know.”

The woman’s eyes burned in rage as she leapt at him with her sword raised above her head, wordless yell tearing from her throat. Kai stepped easily out of the way, elbowing her in the side so she stumbled awkwardly on her landing. She turned back to him quickly, nostrils flaring. Kai grinned widely under his mask, motioning her forward with a small jerk of his head.

The woman growled again and swung her sword sideways, aiming for Kai’s face. Kai stepped into her swing, ducking below the blade and tripping her with his foot as he flicked his sword at her hands. She cried out in pain, dropping her blade with a clatter and falling sideways onto the concrete, holding her hand tightly against her chest.

“Down you go.” Kai grinned.

He saw something drop onto a car roof out of the corner of his eye. “Impressive,” A female voice complimented.

He turned quickly, instantly tensing up and brandishing his sword in front of him. After seeing a girl dressed in light orange gi crouching on top of the nearest parked car, he let his shoulders fall, but kept his sword in place.

“Oh _great,_ you’re here.” He groaned.

He heard someone grunt in pain and collapse behind him. A second later, Jay was at his side. “ _Amber?_ ” He asked disbelievingly, tucking his nunchucks back into his belt. “What the hell is she doing here?”

“Waiting for the party.” The girl answered, smoothly leaping off the car and flipping through the air before landing in front of Kai and Jay, who quickly stumbled backwards. “But I only count three of you here. Is it cold and flu season already?”

“Amber.” Nya greeted, pushing between Kai and Jay. “Are you here to help?”

Amber gave a small bow. “Of course. Have I ever done anything else?”

“Gotten in our way, mostly.” Kai growled, tightening his grip around his sword.

“Red, put your weapon away. We don’t have time to fight her.” Nya’s eyes bored into Kai until he reluctantly follower her order. She glanced back to Amber, hesitating a moment. Then, visibly steeling herself, she took a step forward and held out her hand. “Thank you. We could use the backup.”

“Gray!-” Kai and Jay spluttered in disbelief behind her. Amber looked down at Nya’s extended hand, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

“Well, glad to see one of you is finally learning to be reasonable.” Her eyes grinned, and she clasped Nya’s hand in her own, shaking firmly. “Thanks.”

“Gray, I think this is a mistake.” Kai whispered harshly, grabbing his sister’s shoulder.

“Gotta say, I agree.” Jay backed him up, glaring wearily at Amber. “We don’t know her well enough to trust her.”

“Looks like you don’t have a choice in the matter.” Amber grinned smugly, stepping past Nya. Kai Jay backed up farther, Jay close beside him. “Come on, when have I ever been anything but friendly? I promise I won’t stab you in the back. Wanna shake on it?” Amber held out her hand.

“ _No._ ” Kai gritted through clenched teeth, right hand reaching over his shoulder to grip his sword hilt. “I’m not willingly giving you my powers.”

“ _Red_ , for the love of- we don’t have time for this!” Nya shouted, motioning to the building. “If you and Blue give her your powers, she and I can handle the lobby while you both run up to save the mayor- who might not even make it if you keep being so uncooperative!”

Amber kept her hand open, eyes glinting. Kai locked his gaze with his sister’s, each of their glares unrelenting.

After several seconds of silence, Jay groaned loudly, stepping forward and weakly slapping Ambers hand before darting back. “Fine, there, you got mine.”

“ _Blue-_ ” Kai turned to him in disbelief.

“ _What?_ She’s right, they’re both right- we could use the back up, and I don’t think Gray should be holding the lobby by herself, alright?”

“I don’t think holding it with _her_ is much better,” Kai growled, shooting a sharp glare at Amber.

Amber’s cocky grin was still evident in the crinkle at the corner of her eyes. “ _Ohho,_ protective, are we?”

Kai reeled back. Nya waved her hands frantically before pulling on Amber’s gi. “Ok, _no_ , we’re not doing this right now. _No,_ ” She said again, dropping the other girl’s uniform suddenly as if it had burned her. She motioned back to the apartments, and the muffled shouting and blurry shapes moving inside, visible through the tinted glass walls. “No more arguing, let’s just go.”

Amber shrugged, looking unperturbed. “Fine, I can make do with water and lightning.” She held out both her palms, letting one pull a swirl of water out of the air and the other spark with electricity. Kai hated the powerful glint he saw flash through her eyes. “Yeah, this’ll do fine.” She dropped her hands, water splashing to the street and lightning dissipating in the air. “So the plan is to cover for Blue and Reddie as they- what, rescue the mayor? He live here?”

Kai pulled his sword several inches from his sheath at the nickname. Jay placed a hand on his arm, steadying him.

“Just stay with me,” Nya said, exhausted, pulling her trident off her back and walking to the doors. “Red, update Green for me on your way up?”

Without waiting for an answer, Nya kicked open the doors and burst into the building. Kai rushed in after her, still feeling his stomach twist at the thought of leaving his sister alone with some wannabe-ninja that showed up outta nowhere less than a year ago. But it appeared he was outvoted.

At least a dozen tattooed criminals stood around the lobby floor of the apartment building, all of them turning to face the ninja and with varying degrees of surprise. Most had knives or swords strapped to their belts, and after a quick scan, Kai spotted only one person with a gun holster, standing closest to the doors.

Kai tensed as they reached for the gun, but before he had the chance to move, a flash of orange brushed past him, lightly brushing his fingers with her own as she passed.

Amber quickly caught the person with a gun in a choke hold, her other hand pushing against the barrel as they struggled to raise it. Within seconds, the gun was glowing bright orange, and the holder cried out in pain as they dropped it, hand reeling back as it blistered from the heat.

“Hey, that’s my move!” Kai cried out as Amber slammed the criminal onto the floor. She glanced back at Kai to throw him a wink as the room exploded into shouting as the Sons of Garmadon swelled forward to meet the ninja. “You mother fucker-” Kai swore, drawing his sword as another tattooed woman rushed him with her own.

He met the strangers blade, gritting his teeth in frustration. As their swords locked, he dropped one hand from his hilt to shoot a burst of flames at the woman’s abdomen. She cried out in pain and crumpled to the floor.

“Come on!” Jay called, already darting between cultists to reach the doors marked as stairs.

A man dashed at Kai, brandishing two daggers. Kai sunk into a ready stance to meet him, but Nya swung her trident in front of him before he was in range, catching the man’s daggers in her spokes.

“ _Go,”_ She growled threateningly, shooting Kai a sharp glare.

Kai snarled in frustration, every part of him screaming to stay with his sister and not leave her with Amber. Still, he forced himself to follow her order, lowering his blade and dashing after Jay, allowing Nya to engage with the criminals he ran past.

Jay was standing with his back to the door, nunchucks swinging in his right hand as three Sons of Garmadon surrounded him. Kai leaped up and slammed the hilt of his sword against the back of the middle man’s head, knocking him out instantly. As the other two turned to face him, Jay quickly struck out with his nunchucks, wapping one on the head as Kai again locked blades with the other. Without warning, the man Kai was facing convulsed and crumple to the floor, revealing Amber standing behind him with electricity dancing off of her fingers. She threw him a second wink.

Kai had the sudden urge to run her through with his sword, but he settled for a seething glare as Jay pulled him through the doors into the stairway.

“I _really_ don’t like teaming up with her.” Kai grunted as he sheathed his sword and followed Jay up the steps.  
“Me neither, but what choice did we have?” Jay replied, jogging slightly ahead as they scaled the steps.

Kai didn’t respond, instead putting his hand to his ear to activate the comm. “We reached our destination. Blue an’ I are running to check for the mayor while Grey’s engaging with the welcoming party on the ground floor with the support of Amber.”

For several seconds, the only sound was Kai and Jay’s heavy breathing and echoing footsteps as they swung around the stairwell.

White was the first to answer. “Amber?”

“Yo, Amber’s there? What the hell?” Black nearly spoke over him.

“Amber’s giving support?” Green asked last, voice overlapping slighting with the others.

Kai snorted, brining his hand up to his ear again. “I know, right? She nabbed all of our powers, but she seems to be cooperating with us. For now.”

“She’s never appeared to have ill intentions in our past encounters.” White said in Kai’s ear. “Her appearance is unexpected, but her cooperation shouldn’t be.”

“White’s right.” Green said, the roar of his engine muffled in the background. “She hasn't done any more harm than just stealing the glory before. Her involvement shouldn’t cause an issue.”

Jay huffed loudly in front of Kai. “How high do you think this building goes?”

Kai chucked, but he couldn’t blame his partner. He was starting to feel out of breath too.

“So is she like an honorary ninja now or something?” Black asked over the comm. “Is this another Samurai X situation?”

“No.” Wu’s voice answered. “But it does make her an ally. For now, at least.”

“ _Hey,_ ” Nya interjected, the sounds of a fight carrying through her comm. “Don’t turn Samurai X into a noun. She was an _icon_.”

“Continue your mission.” Green ordered. “We’re almost at our destination. We’ll let you know if we find anything.”

“Roger that.” Kai breathed into his comm. “Over and out.”

“ _Red,_ ” Jay gasped, falling into step next to Kai. “there has to be a better way to do this.”

“Come on, master of lightning, put a lil more spark in your step!” Kai teased, but let them slow into a halt, doubling over with Jay to catch their breath.

“That’s not the saying,” He whined. “You can’t just make up a saying like that. How much farther?”

Kai glanced over the rail, looking down at the distance they had covered, and looking up at the length they still ad to climb. “Um.” He tightened his lips and narrowed his eyes. “We’re almost halfway?”

Jay groaned loudly, the noise echoing down the stairs. _At least if someone got past Nya and Amber, we’d be able to hear them coming._ Kai thought, still glancing up the railing. An idea sparked in his head.

“Hey, you know what’d be more fun than running?”

“What,” Jay sighed, straightening back up.

“ _Parkour_.” Kai answered, pulling himself over of the railing and jumping up to the railing on the next set of stairs, turning to look down at Jay.

The Blue Ninja looked up at him with wide, smiling eyes. “ _Hell_ yeah.”

Kai jumped to the next floor as Jay clambered over the rails. It took a couple jumps for the pair to pick up their rhythm, but once they did, Kai was certain they were making better time than jogging up the steps. By the time he turned to jump to the next rail and saw only the ceiling, he was actually surprised. He flipped backwards over the rail, smoothly landing on the top floor.

A few seconds later, Jay hopped onto the rail in front of him. Kai grinned at him. Jay’s eyes widened in surprise, and his foot slipped. He shouted, arms flailing for balance as he tipped backwards.

“Whoa!” Kai lunged forward, gripping Jay’s wrist in both of his hand, heaving him back up. As the Blue Ninja refound his footing, Kai’s chest clenched as his mind caught hold of a passing thought. _He didn’t just recognize me, did he?_

Kai studied Jay’s face closely as his friend recentered himself and slipped over the railing to join him. He could all too easily picture Jay suddenly seeing through his mask without warning and realizing who he was. Why did he think boba was a good idea? Why did he give him those damn headphones?

“Yeesh, sorry, I didn't realize we were so close to the top. Good call, though. Definitely better than taking the stairs.” Jay’s eyes smiled at him as he held out a fist.

Kai’s chest was still tight, but he felt some of the tension leak at Jay’s words. _Blue’s words. Have I been thinking of him as Jay this entire time?_ Suddenly dealing with a surge of far different emotions than he was a minute ago, he bumped Jay’s first before turning to face the solidary door at the top of the building.

 _Focus, Red. You're a ninja right now. You're here to save the mayor._ While all the other doors they had passed on the way up had led to hallways with several apartments in each, this door had a yellow warning sign on it, reading 'Private Property. Do not enter.’

“Damn, I guess he really does just own the entire top floor. So what's the plan, we run in with fire flamin’ and lightning crackin’?”

Kai rolled a shoulder, stepping back. “Sounds good to me. Let's do it.” Then, he rammed into the door with his full weight thrown into it, splintering the wood and tearing the door from its hinges.

Kai stumbled into the apartment with Jay slipping in beside him, fists raised for a fight. The first thing he noticed was that they appeared to have landed in the kitchen, of all places- a large, sprawling kitchen that was probably the size of Kai’s and Nya’s entire apartment. Then, he noticed that every light was turned on, every drawer pulled open, every cabinet with its doors ajar, and all of their contents completely scattered and thrown about the room.

“Guess they've already looked here.” Jay murmured, eyes narrowing at the mess.

Kai heard loud a clattering around the corner.

“ _You hear that?_ ” A gruff voice asked through the wall.

“ _Something probably just fell in the kitchen. The elevator didn’t go off._ ”

Kai made eye contact with Jay, and the two quickly slunk across the expansive kitchen, carefully stepping over broken dishes and tossed pots, nearing the wall the voices were coming from.

“Whatever, keep digging. We either bring back the mask or the mayor, and we haven't found _either_ yet. Police will get here any minute now.”

Kai and Jay pressed up against the wall, next to a corner that curved into a wide hallway the voices were clearly echoing from. Kai motioned Jay forward with his hands, giving him a small bow.

Jay smiled and let his fingertips brush his chest, eyelids fluttering. Kai rolled his head dramatically, letting Jay slip in front of him and around the corner.

“Hey there!” The Blue Ninja greeted loudly. Kai heard the criminals shout in surprise and scramble for their weapons. “What, you SHOCKED to see me?” A flash of buzzing noise was quickly followed by two heavy drops in quick succession.

Kai turned the corner to see Jay holding his hand like a gun, pointing it at the two unconscious forms of the Sons of Garmadon grunts. He slowly turned to point his hand gun in Kai’s direction before pulling it up to his face and blowing on his finger.

“Alright, you better holster that. Don't wanna have any accidents.” Kai teased, walking forward to jab Jay in the side. The boy squealed indignantly, but mimed sliding his fingers into his belt as Kai walked past, pulling a zip tie from his belt.

 _Easy peasy._ Kai thought, securing the first villains hands together as Jay did the same to the other. _Why'd they bother bringing so many people only to send two guys to actually search the place?_

He didn’t have the opportunity to dwell on the thought for long as he heard quick footsteps approach from farther down the hall.

Kai spun around, quickly drawing his sword and holding it out defensively.  
“W-wait!” The old man froze, still a good distance away. “It’s me!” He whispered harshly, gesturing to his thin pajamas.

“Oh. Hey, we found the mayor.” Jay said, elbowing Ka. “Unharmed, unless you’re planning on changing the mission?”

“Shut up.” Kai grumbled, quickly re-sheathing his sword. “Uh, but, you are unharmed, right?” He asked, turning back to the mayor.

The old man nodded, eyes darting around his house. “Yes, but- oh, this is terrible! I had a suspicion something like this would happen, which is why I sent Harumi home early with the mask, but this-” The mayor leaned against his wall, pushing a hand through his graying hair. “This is dreadful! Everything’s a mess! But, thank you so much again for coming to my rescue.” He faced the ninja, smiling weakly.

Kai’s mind was racing, but Jay spoke first. “Wait, you _don’t_ have the second oni mask here? You sent it to your house with your daughter?”

The mayor straightened up, grinning proudly. “Yes, the police refused to hold it for me, so I had the thought to hide it at my private home!”

“ _Fucking christ_ ,” Kai whispered, rubbing his head and turning away to press his hand to his ear. “Green, we’ve secured the mayor unharmed. But he’s just confirmed that he _did_ move the mask to his house. You run into anything yet?”

The other line was silent.

“Should... should I not have done that?” Kai turned back to the mayor. The old man’s eyes suddenly looked far more sunken in then they had seconds ago. “Is my family in danger?”

Kai locked eyes helplessly with Jay. He pushed against his ear again, refusing to look at the mayor. “Green, please respond.”

Nya’s voice came in after he finished speaking. “Police are starting to arrive, we’re about to evacuate the building. Green, White, Black, do any of you read us?”

A sudden burst of static sent Kai and Jay reeling back in surprise. The mayor stepped closer to them. “What?” He asked, eyes still blown wide. “What is it?”

Green’s broken voice shouted over the comms, the obvious sounds of a fight in the background. “ _Gray, Red, Blue- get over here! We need backup!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh I don't have a personal tumblr but,,, if anyone would want to talk about legos w/ me I might be tempted? to make one?? Mayhaps  
> EDIT I caved after less than a day I'm still making everything look pretty but hmu at whiparoundandcry if you like gay legos


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE WAIT EVERYONE I got Busy but I hope I made it worth it!!  
> And I keep forgetting to put this disclaimer in tbh it shoulda gone on ch1 but Wu in this fic is a lot more withered and crotchety than Wu in canon! so he may seem OOC but I promise theres reason for it that I'll try to touch on eventually ;v;
> 
> Akubis was my beta reader/editor for this chapter!! They made it 100x better pls check out their tumblr @the-golden-ninja

The glass door swung shut behind the boys, earning them a small jingle.

“Didn’t you say this was a ‘one time offer’ last time?” Jay brought his drink up to his lips, grinning slightly around the thick straw.

Kai scoffed. “Funny how you remind me _after_ we’re leaving the shop. But no, you caught me red handed. I, uh-” he stuttered for a moment, wincing at his phrasing. “It’s alright. I still gotta show you Doomsday Comix, and we can’t do that without some ‘drank.” He held out his boba, and after a beat, Jay clicked their plastic cups together.

“Do they even allow drinks in the store?” Jay asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Sure they do. It’s fine. I think they do?” Kai narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. “We can chug ‘em if we see someone coming up. It’ll be fine.”

Jay snorted, pulling his drink away from his face and bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. “Dude, come on, not while I’m drinking!” He choked out, though his smile betrayed his words.

Kai smiled back at him. He knew they both needed this, after the last night’s events. His smile faltered, and he focused his gaze back on the sidewalk.

They had rushed to support Green as fast as they could, but their leader had called it off before they'd even reached halfway, saying that the Sons of Garmadon had escaped with the mask. Kai didn’t want to be mad at Green, but he still felt frustration boil in his gut that he hadn’t been able to go after them. And he knew it wasn’t Green’s fault - not really - but he also knew that he wasn’t the only one who was blaming their young leader for the mission’s failure.

* * *

 

“Maybe if we hadn’t been briefed seconds before the mission, we would have been more prepared to deal with this.” Black accused over their comms a minute after the two groups had met up on bike. White was bringing the mayor’s wife on his motorcycle, while Green had Harumi clinging to his back as they drove the family into town.

Through his mirror, Kai glanced at Green, who was riding behind him. The boy didn’t answer - whether it was because Black was right or because he didn’t want Harumi to hear them talking, Kai didn’t know.

Wu spoke up instead. “You knew everything you needed going into the mission. This failure is disappointing, but -”

“ _But_ nothing.” Kai interrupted, hissing into his mic as they neared the apartments again. The sky was already starting to brighten. “What if this had happened yesterday? We’d have been screwed.”

“I don’t understand why it took so long to inform us about all of this.” Nya agreed, riding alongside him.

“It’s not like we didn’t have _time_ .” Kai continued. “You had a week to go over the art museum footage, and it’s not like we only had to learn about these guys _after_ they already started their master plan to rule the -”

Green's engine roared loudly behind Kai, and within seconds he was swerving in front of him. Kai had to veer off to the side to avoid clipping him. After reorienting himself, he scowled under his scarf and brought his hand to his ear. “Real mature, _Green_. I’ll drop it for now, but you know we’re right.”

Nobody responded to him. The rest of the ride through the city was spent in tense silence, Kai watching Harumi clutch tightly to Green riding in front of him, burying her face in his shoulder. If tensions weren't so high, he would have enjoyed teasing the leader about it again.

He wasn't in much of a teasing mood, though.

The group slowed as they turned down the street of the apartment, seeing the bright flashing lights of the police cars piled in the street still blocked by the dinged up cars placed by the Sons of Garmadon. Kai spotted several of the criminals with noticeable blood stains or burn marks sitting handcuffed in a line at the edge of the sidewalk beside an ambulance.

 _Can't say I feel sorry for them._ Kai thought, fierce righteousness making his fingers itch as the ninja all slowed to a stop a ways from the police escorting Sons of Garmadon into their cars. The officers paused and visibly tensed at the arrival of the ninja. Green was the only one to cut his engine, stepping off of his bike and carefully helping Harumi off with him. At Kai’s left, he saw her mother roll off White’s bike and start jogging to the police, shouting her husband's name.

Green and Harumi were still standing together as her mother rushed past. Kai narrowed his eyes, and saw the white haired girl’s lips moving quickly. He snorted lightly to himself. _Wish I could hear what she’s saying._ He really would have to give Green hell for this when the situation was lighter. It was nice to see him with someone his own age. Maybe not so much while he was in uniform, but still.

At the sound of a shout he was starting to grow familiar with over the last week, Kai pulled his eyes away from the young teens to watch the mayor and his wife embrace tightly. After a few moments, he seemed to notice his daughter, and jogged over to the ninja with his wife, their hands clasped together.

“Harumi,” The old man sighed, dropping his wife's hand and sinking down to hug his daughter. Green stepped back to his motorcycle, watching the family for a moment more before swinging his leg back over the seat.

Jay waved impatiently on Green’s far left, opting to yell instead of using their comms. “C'mon, let go!” He called impatiently.

Behind Kai, Black roared his engine in agreement. Not addressing any of them, Green kicked his own engine on and began to back up.

“Wait -” The mayor hurriedly stood up and scampered to catch Green before he drove off, resting his hands on top of Green’s grip. The boy was obviously taken aback, staring up at the mayor with wide eyes. “Thank you so much. This is the second time you've saved my family. I promise to do something to repay you.”

“Uh.” Green said, slowly continuing his turn to pull away from they mayor’s grip. “That's not necessary. But thanks. I guess.” He quickly accelerated, fully turning his bike. “Ninja, let's go.” He ordered in a louder voice, taking off down the street. Kai and the rest of the team quickly followed, but the Red Ninja couldn't resist casting one more glance at the mayor and his family - all still dressed in their sleepwear - standing together, huddled in front of the gathering of police cars, watching the ninja speed away.

“Are we really going back to the Bounty?” Jay complained in Kai’s ear as he refocused his attention to the road. “We have lives _outside_ of this, ya know.”

 _School_ . Kai inwardly winced. _Guess we’ll both be late for first period, Jay._

“We have to debrief.” Green spoke, his voice sounding incredibly strained. “And finish going over all the info we have on the Sons of Garmadon.”

Riding next to him, Kai saw Nya slouch forward and rub her forehead. White spoke through his earpiece. “With what took place tonight, it really would have been beneficial to have completed the briefing earlier.”

“That's enough.” Wu spoke harshly through their comms. “Maintain radio silence until you reach HQ.”

Kai was extremely tempted to raise his hand to his ear and say something just to piss off their sensei. But he refrained, biting his lip and gearing ahead as the team pulled out of the city and into the waterfront.

When the ninja pulled into the lot together, there was no playful banter or good natured shoves. They walked to the warehouse in a tense silence. Inside, Wu was already waiting in front of the TV. The six ninja crowded around him, but no one sat down. Kai spotted the whiteboard and marker discarded on the corner of the carpet, still with the same tally marks from the beginning of the week.

Wu sighed, leaning heavily on his cane and rubbing his eyes. “I understand that you’re all upset that we lost the second oni mask.”

“Actually, we’re more upset that we barely knew anything going into the mission.” Nya spoke up, voice hard. “I had to accept help from Amber because I had no idea what we were going up against. Which, by the way, ended up just being two dozen poorly trained druggies who probably had never held a sword before.”

Black snorted. “Maybe on your end! The people swarming the mayor’s place were tough as shit. They knew how to fight.” He twisted to show his torn gi, several nicks cutting across his side.

“ _Ninja._ ” Wu interrupted. Nya and Black fell silent. Wu cast his gaze across all of his students as he continued. “As you’ll recall, we were in the middle of the briefing before being called into action. What’s left to share isn’t much, but it’ll hopefully satisfy you all until we uncover more.”

Kai gritted his teeth together, but still held his tongue.

“We can assume that the mayor visited the museum last Tuesday to ask for police help in guarding his mask before he decided to send it to his personal home with his family.” Wu began, speaking carefully. “It’s unclear why his daughter was taken by a Son of Garmadon that same day, but by again relying on assumption, it’s possible that he was trying to hold her ransom for the mask. Because it was an extremely ill advised attack, that one man might have been working outside of the larger organization, hinting at a possible lack of strong leadership.”

“That’s a lot of qualifiers.” White said, standing with his hands folded behind his back. “Do we really not know anything else about them?”

“As I said, there wasn’t much left to share.” Wu rolled his cane slowly, pausing in his sweep of the ninja to study Green. Kai didn’t have a good angle to see their leader, but he felt his blood rush again. _They’re_ still _keeping stuff from us._

Kai clenched his hands into fists at his sides, losing the last shreds of his patience. “Why was all of this _kept_ from us until now?” He burst out. “This is quite the info dump for something that's just popped up - how long have you been tracking the Sons of Garmadon?” He accused, unclenching one hand to point a finger at their sensei. “For all of that ' _don't put off tomorrow what can be done today_ ’ bullshit, you really put this off until the last possible second. We’re a team, we’re not supposed to keep these things hidden from each other! It endangers our safety if we don't know the whole story!”

Wu’s eyes lit up in anger, and he tapped his cane against the carpet harshly. “The team keeps things from each other to _ensure_ your safety! You had no need to know of the Sons of Garmadon until tonight, and now you do.”

“But _Green_ needed to know?” Jay asked, casting a glare to the younger boy. Green stood perfectly still, staring intently ahead with an unreadable gaze.

“Green is your leader. It's his duty to know everything that he can. The information would have just clouded your minds and distracted you.”

White narrowed his eyes. “I find that hard to believe. We are just as competent at processing information as Green is.”

“What if this attack had happened earlier this week?” Nya questioned, her voice harsh with accusation.

Black backed her up. “Yeah, when would you have told us then? _While_ we were in the field?”

“Guys -” Green interjected. As the focus shifted to him, he seemed to freeze for a second, eyes darting around to each of the ninja before settling on Wu. Kai glanced at their sensei, and saw him returning Green's gaze intently, eyes casting a warning.

“This one’s just… different.” He floundered, gesturing vaguely at the air with his hands. “It involves family. For Wu. We held off on sharing because it’s personal. Red and Grey, you two understand, don't you?”

Kai blinked, and met Nya’s gaze from across the carpet. He could see her eyes narrow in thought. If a mission involved her, would he keep information from the team? Would he _lie_ to them?

He didn't think it was a good analogy. Of course he was fiercely protective of his sister, but his sister wasn't evil, and she would never betray him to the rest of the world as Garmadon had to Wu. But if she did, would he be able to work with the rest of the team to take her out?

Wu already dealt with taking out his evil sibling once before. And Garmadon wasn’t even _alive_ anymore. At least, not yet. Was that really why they kept everything from the team?

Black scoffed loudly and tore away from the group. “Whatever. I don’t wanna hear excuses. I’m going home.”

“You have not been dismissed!” Wu barked at Black’s retreating form. The ninja didn’t answer as he pushed through the door and disappeared into the brightening day.

The remaining four glanced between themselves, agreeing silently before wordlessly turning away as well, leaving a helpless Green and Wu alone.

“Don’t let your frustrations hamper your duty.” Wu called after them, irritation evident in his tone. “You are still _ninja_. Don’t behave like upset teenagers.”

 _Fuck you._ Kai seethed as he barged into the daylight, stomping to his bike. _This isn’t on us._

* * *

 

Jay yawned loudly. “I’m uh - sorry I'm not super talkative today.” He apologized, staring determinedly at the already half empty boba in his hands. “Didn't get much sleep last night.”

Kai pulled himself back into the present. “Oh?” He shook his head, trying to forget last night. “Yeah, I mean, same. Don't worry. We’re almost at the shop, through.” He pointed up the street. “Just about another block, and we need to cross. See the red sign?”

Jay noddeed, following Kai’s finger. “Oh yeah! I see it. So, what kept you up last night?”

His heart immediately jumped into his throat. He quickly cast a side glance at the shorter boy, but Jay didn't seem to mean the question in an accusatory way. As far as Kai knew, Jay still was clueless to his identity. Several excuses jumbled through his head as he grew more and more aware of the growing gap of silence between Jay’s question and his answer. _Homework? Studying? No, too obvious. I have a job? What if he asks what the job is? I was sick? No, my sister was sick? But he can’t know I have a sister, because then he'll connecter her to Gray-_

Kai settled on a snort. “Pfft. Wouldn’t you like to know.” It felt incredibly lame, but Jay seemed to take it with zeal.

“Oh come on! You’re trying to play the mysterious badass?” He chuckled, lightly elbowing his side. “Dude, you're better than that.”

Relieved, Kai played along. “What do you mean, I’m ' _better than that_ ’? I just happen to be quite badass and appropriately mysterious at the same time. What's with you suddenly asking all these personal questions anyways?” He leaned closer, narrowing his eyes and rubbing his chin.

Jay held his hands up, smiling crookedly with bright eyes. “Pfft, personal questions? I asked about your afternoon, dude.”

“Yeah, that's where it starts.” Kai backed off, but kept a suspicious eye on him. “Next you'll be asking for my apartment number and last name.”

Jay was silent for a beat. “What _is_ your last name?”

“Aha!” Kai shouted, jumping ahead of Jay. “See? What are you planning to do with that information?”

Jay laughed again, shrugging. “Dude, I dunno, call you by it when I'm disappointed in you? My last name is Walker.”

“Ah, equivalent exchange.” Kai mused, falling back into step next to Jay. “Very well, Jay Walker. My last name is - wait.” Kai physically froze in the sidewalk, mid step. Jay stumbled to a stop and turned back to face him, eyebrows furrowed. “ _Walker?_ Is that for real?”

“Uh, yeah?” Jay scratched the side of his head, glancing back at the sidewalk. “Why?”

“Jay _Walker?_ ”

Jay nodded, holding out his hands. “ _Why_ is that such a big reveal?”

Kai quickly glanced up and down the street. Without warning, he surged forward and grabbed Jay’s wrist, pulling him out into the road. Jay cried out in surprise and protest, but Kai kept a firm grip as he pulled him along. After stumbling through the first lane, Jay refound his footing and raced across the rest of the street with Kai leading him.

When they stepped down on the adjacent sidewalk, Kai dropped the other boys arm and burst out laughing while Jay doubled over to catch his breath.

“What - the fuck -” Jay’s face turned up to cast Kai a glare full of betrayal. “What was that for?”

“Uhm, your namesake?” Kai cocked an eyebrow and put his free hand on his hip, trying to give Jay an incredulous stare but unable to stop the smile pulling at his lips. “Come on, you've had to have gotten that before.”

Kai could pinpoint the exact moment Jay’s eyes changed from clouded confusion into sharp realization. Just his expression was enough to send Kai doubling back in laughter again.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Jay groand. “Seriously? How old are you, seven?”

Kai gasped for air. “Again - again with the personal questions?” He wheezed, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

Jay eventually joined his laughing, letting his shoulders shake. “I mean, you didn't answer any of them!”

“Maybe it's for the best.” Kai exhaled, standing up straight. He glanced at their surroundings. “Oh, hey, we’re here.” He motioned his cup to the Doomsday Comix sign mounted above the door of the shop they were standing in front of.

“ _Really,_ ” Jay groaned, throwing his head back but following Kai to the entrance. “I get nothing? Seriously?”

Kai smiled as he pushed through the swinging door and held it open for Jay behind him. The comic shop wasn't large, but it was enough for several aisles of graphic novels, as well as a display case for trading cards and figures at the register and shelves against the far wall packed with board games and toys.

“Smith.” Kai offered, letting Jay walk past him to take in the shop. “Kai Smith.”

Jay glanced back at him, seeming to take a moment to study his face as he brought up his boba and took a slow sip. He let the straw go with a small pop, and let his hand fall away. “Sounds boring.”

Kai snorted, moving further into the store. “Geeze, I trust you with this information and you make fun of me? I'm wounded.” He turned down the first aisle.

“No, _I’m_ wounded!” Jay trailed after Kai, pushing his wrist in front of the brown haired boys face. “You practically gave me an Indian burn by dragging me across a busy street! We could have _died._ ” He bemoaned.

Kai paused to look at the wrist hovering in front of his nose. The skin was light, with a couple freckles scattered around the sides of his arm, and more trailing down to his elbow. “Looks fine to me.”

“Yeah, well the red marks must've faded then.” He pulled his arm back and clutched it close to his chest, sticking his tongue out at Kai.

He rolled his eyes in response. “Whatever. Do you like Fritz Donnegan?” Kai reach to a shelf, pointing at the spines of a series of comic books packed tightly together and stretching through almost the entire length of the self.

Jay gasped softly. Kai felt a hand grip his elbow. He turned, confused, to meet Jay’s intense gaze.

“Kai,” he spoke, softly but intently. “I fucking _love_ Fritz Donnegan.”

“Oh.” Kai grinned, turning back to run his finger along the spines of the books. “Sick. Did you hear they were making a movie?”

“Hell yeah!” Jay bounced behind him, turning to follow all the comics lined along the shelf. “I don't know if I should be excited or scared they're gonna ruin it, but I’ll probably like it no matter what. Cliff Gordon was just cast as Donnegan last month - and I mean, he wouldn't be my first pick, but he's alright, I guess.”

Kai kept an easy smile on his face. Honestly, he was sure that Jay’s knowledge of the franchise far exceeded his at this point, but it made him happy to hear his friend so excited about something. “Who would be your first pick?”

“Me, obviously.” Jay turned from the shelf to strike an overly dramatic pose, puffing out his chest and raising a fist into the air. “ _Fear isn't a word where I'm from!_ ”

Kai barely managed to hold in his laughter, snorting softly and chest bouncing. “Not bad,” He chuckled as Jay dropped his fist. “Maybe you could be cast as his bastard son, or something.”

Jay's eyes were alight with joy. “They better not try to make up their own story line, I swear to god. There's literally over fifty issues to choose from and - _holy shit._ ” His eyes widened as he interrupted himself, drawn to something further down the aisle.

Kai blinked, and tried to follow his gaze. “What?”

Jay strode forward, moving to where the books dwindled away and were replaced with - _Ah._

 _“What the fuuuck.”_ Kai whispered, following close behind Jay when he spotted what had enraptured his attention. Sitting in a cardboard box at the end of the aisle were several action figures who looked far too familiar. “Since when did they make _Ninja action figures_?” He whispered in awe, looking over the plastic faces of his friends.

“You didn't know about these? These are new?” Jay questioned, hand hovering a foot away from the box, as if he were scared to touch it.

Kai shook his head slowly. “No, I had no idea. This is crazy.”

Jay hesitantly reached forward and picked up a Blue figure, gently running his fingers along the creases in the gi. He glanced up quickly at Kai, then back down at the figure of his alter ego. “Are - are you a fan? Of the ninja, I mean.”

Kai blinked. He tore his gaze away from the figures to watch Jay fidget with the Blue figure in his hands, turning him over and over as he examined every detail. Kai inwardly smirked, and pretended to play it cool. “Sure, I like ‘em. I mean, they've literally save the city countless times. Who wouldn’t?” He reached forward into the box, letting his fingers ghost over several different figures. _Only one Red figure left._ Kai though triumphantly. _I'm pretty popular._

“Who’s your favorite?”

The question threw Kai completely off guard. His hand froze, hovering above his own plastic face, his first thought telling him to claim that last figure for his own. _But that's too obvious._ He drew his hand away, biting the inside of his lip. _Jay’s been pretty oblivious so far, but I can't pick myself. Too risky._

He looked over the other figures, mind whirling. _Should I pick Nya then?_ He immediately dismissed that thought as well. _She's not here, I don't have to be nice to her._ If not himself or his sister, than who? Should he just pick one at random? Green was the most popular generally, he thought, so maybe -

Then, he was struck with an idea. Grinning to himself, he grabbed a matching figure to the one in Jay’s hands. “Blue. Definitely Blue.”

And when he turned to look at Jay, he swore his heart stopped for a beat. He was looking at Kai in such appreciation, admiration, and pure glee - Kai knew that he'd made the right decision.

“Really?” Jay asked, eyes wide and smile tugging at his lips.

Kai had to swallow before he spoke. “Uh, yeah! I just, um,” He paused for a moment, examining the figure now in his hand. Since he’d claimed Blue as his favorite, he'd now have to back that up, wouldn’t he? _But from the perspective of a civilian._ He creased his eyebrows, intently studying Blue’s plastic yellow face. “I mean, I like how he's always positive in tough spots, and how he's quick to crack a joke in serious situations. He… seems like the brightest out of all the ninja? Like, he's really happy about what he does, and it’s obvious just by the way he _moves_. You see it in the videos online where he’s comforting injured people, or flying above the street, or - you know, whatever. Does that make sense?” He lifted his head up to look at Jay, worried that he could sense his awkwardness.

And if he thought Jay’s face when he said Blue was his favorite was good, his expression now _destroyed_ Kai. “Uh huh.” Jay breathed, stars dancing in his eyes.

 _Is he blushing?_ “Yeah, okay, I'm buying this.” Kai spoke without really hearing himself, clutching the figure close to his chest and turning to walk back to the register.

“Really?” Jay asked, shelving his own figure and catching up with Kai. “I mean, uh, Blue’s my favorite too, you know.”

Kai nodded dumbly, feeling like his consciousness had floated away and he was watching his body move on its own. When he reached the front, the guy at the register smiled politely.

“Hey, find everything you needed okay?”

Kai nodded again, still not sure if he was able to speak. He set the figure on the glass counter wordlessly, reaching for his wallet.

“Oh, sick, I love these Ninja figures.” The man picked it up and turned it in his hands a couple times before ringing it up. Kai didn't even know how much it cost, so he pulled out his card. “I have the entire set at home. Is Blue your favorite?”

Kai felt his cheeks heat up, but he had no idea why. “Yeah,” he mumbled, hyper aware of Jay standing behind him, watching the purchase.

“Nice. My favorite used to be Green, but last night I had a _life changing experience._ ” He pointed to a photo hanging on the wall behind him.

Kai squinted to make it out, then blew his eyes wide as he realized what it was. “Oh. Oh my god.”

“What is it?” Jay joined Kai at the counter, leaning across to see. “Wait, what the - did you get a _selfie_ with Red and Grey?”

“Yeah, I know, right?” The cashier - Rufus, Kai read off of his name tag, grinned proudly. “Just happened this morning too! It was crazy, I was walking home from the bar with my friends - a little buzzed, but you know - when I spot them on top of a Seven Eleven, and I think _hey, what the hell_ \- and I asked them for a pic, and they were totally chill!” He beamed. “So yeah, Red and Gray, totally the best.”

Kai nodded, forcing an awkward smile and really not knowing what to say in this situation. “Wow, that's - bonkers, man. Totally crazy.” He cringed at his language, but neither Jay nor Rufus seemed to care or notice.

“No kidding!” Jay breathed. “What, you said that happened this morning?”

“Yeah, at like, four am. I even saw them drive off on their sick motorcycles, that totally drove up by themselves - have you ever heard the theory that Cyrus Borg funds them?” Rufus leaned forward, eyes a little wild. “I mean, I always thought it was just another conspiracy theory, but honestly, after that encounter, I’ve browsed the forums more and a lot of the stuff doesn't sound nearly as crazy as I thought it did.”

“There's forums?” Kai asked, almost scared. He clutched his figure slightly closer to his chest.

“Yeah man!” Rufus motioned with his hands. “If you like the Ninja you should totally check em out.”

“There's… conspiracy theories?” Jay asked, sounding as nervous as Kai felt. He knew that they were popular, but he didn't think they had an _online following_ or _fucking action figures._

“Sure, though some of them are super dumb. Like, one of the craziest ones that I've heard was that the Ninja were all gathered and trained by the old Light Ninja, Wu. Like, really? It's more likely that they were trained by a ghost, because that guy’s either dead or _far_ away from Ninjago City. I mean, wouldn't you go as far as possible if you had to deal with all of the shit he dealt with?”

Kai was actually speechless. “Uh huh.” He choked out.

“I mean, you guys are probably too young to remember the Light Ninja and the Dark Ninja, but if you like the current gen of Ninja then you gotta know about the original, right? Do they teach it in school?”

Kai shook his head, catching sight of Jay frozen stock still with wide eyes. This was awkward. “I mean, yeah, we know about Wu and Garmadon and all that. It's not taught in school, though.”

“It totally should be. It's an important part of our city's history!” Rufus leaned backwards, waving them off. “Sorry, I've talked way too much. I get so caught up in Ninja stuff, I swear. Make sure to check out the forums though! It's a really cool community.”

“Alright.” Kai said, backing away with Jay close at his side. “Thanks. Bye.” He turned away and forced his legs to carry him to the door at a normal pace. He tossed his boba cup as he left, suddenly feeling like he couldn’t stomach the rest.

Once outside, he took a moment to just stand on the sidewalk and re-center himself. _That was weird. Gotta tell Nya when I get home._ He turned, and saw Jay standing next to him looking similarly ruffled.

“Woof.” Kai breathed, shaking out his arms a little. “Well, I mean, he seemed nice, right? I just, didn't know people were that into the Ninja. Or that there was, like, forums. Or figures.” He looked down at the Blue in his hands. Did he have to buy the rest of the team now?

“Yeah.” Jay said, refocusing his eyes on Kai. “That's cool that he got a picture with the ninja, though. I… didn't know that was something they could do. He seemed happy with it.”

 _Oh no._ Kai thought with dread. _Is Jay gonna go around snapping pics with every civilian he finds now?_ “Yeah.” Kai let the silence stretch for a bit as he studied his new figure, turning it slowly in his hands. “You know, I’m happy with this. Real happy.” He pulled pulled one of Blue’s arms out so he was making a punching motion, and held him up to Jay. He pretended to shout, pushing the figure into Jay’s shoulder. “ _Hiih-yah!”_

“Pfft.” Jay snorted, batting Kai’s hand away but pretending to stumble back from the impact. “Yeah, you like it? I might have to actually bring my own money so I can get one for myself next time.”

Kai grinned with him as they set back down the street, heading to the train stop where Jay would have to wait to head home. After only a couple steps, Kai was struck with a thought. Before he could fully think of the consequences of asking, the words were falling from his mouth. “Who’s your favorite Ninja? Other than Blue.” He hesitated a few seconds, regret already mounting from the question. “You can't steal my favorite.” He added quickly, trying to come up with an excuse.

Trying not to be obvious about it, Kai intensely studied Jay’s expression as he mulled over his answer. “Gray, I guess.”

He smirked to himself _,_ pulling his gaze away and ignoring the deflated feeling in his chest. _Of course it's Nya. He’s had an obvious crush on her since she joined the team._ Kai cleared his throat before answering out loud. “Yeah, that’s fair. Gray’s pretty cool-”

“Or Red.” He added, still with a contemplative look. Kai's mouth dried up. “Red’s pretty cool too.” Jay said nonchalantly, sucking up the last of his boba while Kai told himself to tear his gaze away before Jay noticed he was staring.

“Mmhm.” He managed to say, staring determinedly down the street. “That’s cool.”

* * *

 

Kai swung the door to his apartment open, letting it slam harshly against the wall to announce his presence.

“ _Nya, holy fuck!”_ He called.

“Don't bang the door.” She said from the couch, focused on the DS in her hands. “The neighbors will get mad.”

Kai scowled and made sure to exaggerate closing the door as quietly as he could. Nya didn't even look up. “You're no fun.” He pouted, dragging his feet into the kitchen. “Get over here, we gotta look at something together.” He set Blue on the island and grabbed Nya’s laptop, opening it and entering in the password to unlock it.

Nya hummed from the couch, the sounds of Animal Crossing still twinkling in the background. “You're home late. Go on another date with Blue?”

“First - stop calling it that. Second - yes, actually. I took him to Doomsday Comix, and wouldn’t you know it, the cashier looked quite familiar. Do you know why?”

“How would I know why?”

“Well I'll tell you why -” Kai continued in a flourish, never missing a beat. “He was none other than the bright-if-not-slightly-drunk young man we blessed with a selfie just this very morning.”

“No shit, really?” The Animal Crossing noises finally cut off with a click, and Nya bounced off the couch to join Kai by her laptop. “Did he post it online?”

Kai shrugged, typing at Google. “I dunno, probably. He printed it and had it hanging behind the register. But, what's interesting is the information he told to me and Blue about certain dark places on the internet, of which I am trying to locate now -”

“Scoot your boot.” Nya bumped him with her hip, throwing him off the chair as she climb on.

Kai spluttered as he stumbled to find his footing, glaring at his sister. “What the hell, Nya! All that estrogen is making your hips a dangerous weapon, don't use them against me like that.” He whined as he pulled the other chair next to Nya’s laptop.

She grunted in response, scrolling intently through the site Kai had brought up. “What the hell is all of this?” Nya asked incredulously, highlighting links as she read them. “Sightings, encounters, videos, patterns- seriously, what the fuck?” She fell back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. “Is this... all about _us_? How much free time do people have?”

“Apparently, those who don't spend their nights dressed up as Ninja and fighting crime have more than the average person who does.” Kai said, eyes scanning over the sight just as eagerly. “There! Click that!” He pointed to her screen, bouncing in his seat.

“ _Theories?_ ” Nya read out loud, obediently clicking it while slapping Kai’s finger away from her screen. “Really? This is like, a whole thing?” She let out a low whistle while scrolling through the countless posts. “Damn. Is this all just people in Ninjago? Do people from other cities get in on this too?”

“Maybe.” Kai said, eyes darting to read the titles. “Stop scrolling! Go back to the top, I wanna see some.”

Nya obeyed. Immediately, a post titled _The Red Ninja is gay_ several down from the top caught their attention, and they both pointed to it and began screaming.

“ _Holy shit!_ ” Nya cackled, waving the mouse around wildly.

“Click it, click it!” Kai chanted, grabbing Nya’s shoulders and shaking her, eyes glued to the screen. “I gotta see their evidence!”

Wheezing, Nya clicked it. “ _I'm gay and Red is my favorite_.” She read out loud.

The siblings broke into another fit of howling, doubling over in laughter. “Oh my god,” Kai gasped, one hand on the table for balance and the other gripping Nya’s shoulder. “I mean, they're not wrong!”

“Partial credit.” Nya reasoned, grinning widely. “How long has this site been up? I wish we knew about this months ago.”

“I know.” Kai agreed, watching Nya go back and continue to scroll through the posts.

“Approximate age guesses for the Ninja, how the Ninja are funded, location of the secret base: narrowed down to fifteen blocks.” Nya listed off, reading down from newest to oldest. “Like, over half of these are all by a guy named _The Brown Ninja_.”

“Control-F Gray or Red.” Kai suggested, sitting at the the edge of his seat.

Nya obliged, tying in her own name and reading the first hit. “ _The Gray Ninja is actually a boy._ ”

“Oh, ew.” Kai said, instantly feeling his elation deflate and anxiety spike. “That's such bullshit. They can literally only see your eyes, how can they gender you off of that? Sexist prick probably doesn't think a girl can do all the ninja stuff.” He rattled on, not daring to leave a moment of silence.

“It’s fine.” Nya shrugged, though Kai’s big brother senses could tell how deeply the post shook her. “I mean, I can see where he's coming from. My voice isn't that good yet, and my hips haven't grown much.”

Kai’s eyebrows creased. “Hey, stop that. We just established earlier how powerful your hips are, so that’s definitely not it. You can't possibly see where this asshole’s coming from with this garbage shit, because you're completely a girl and it's bull that they’d try to say anything else.”

“Kai, come on.” Nya saighed, falling back into her chair and advirting her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“ _No,_ I don't.” Kai said stubbornly, tightening his grip on Nya's shoulder. “I'm gonna make an account just to report that guy. I'm gonna make fifty accounts and report them on all of them so that their account gets suspended.”

Nya snorted and smiled weakly, glancing quickly at Kai before refocusing on the laptop. “Thanks. But it's whatever, really. Not sure if I feel like looking at much more though.”

“Just a couple.” Kai begged, gripping his hands together. “Come on, let's find a good one about you. Hit the next,” He encouraged, nudging her arm. Nya grumbled, but clicked anyways.

“ _The Gray Ninja is a clone/twin of the Red Ninja._ ” She read off. It earned a small snort, making her shoulders bounce.

Kai smiled, more at his sister's reaction than the actual post. “Pretty close. I guess our sibling dynamic game is too strong to go unnoticed.” He elbowed Nya lightly in the side, but she was already laughing again.

“Look at the one below it! _The White Ninja is a robot._ This Brown Ninja dude is pretty good, maybe we should track ‘em down.”

Kai scoffed, leaning back. “No way, they're probably some forty year old guy living in his mother’s basement - awh, dicks.” He grumbled, lifted his vibrating Borg watch. “I forgot I have patrol for the afternoon, ughhh.” He threw his head back, pulling both hands down his face.

“You like patrolling, don't kid yourself.” Nya said unsympathetically, continuing to look through the forums.

“But I'm tired!” Kai whined, kicking his legs out. “I had a long day! I wanna go to sleep!”

“I'm gonna make an account, and post a theory that the the Red Ninja is actually a huge cry baby that whines about everything.”

Kai couldn't think up a retort, so he settled for sticking his tongue out at Nya. When she ignored him, he grumbled in defeat and rolled off the chair, dragging his feet into his room to change. He was standing at his door frame when Nya shouted behind him.

“ _Is this a Blue action figure?”_

Straightening up, Kai spun around and marched back into the kitchen, ripping the toy from out of Nya’s hands. Her eyes sparked mercilessly at him.

“Did you buy it to impress him?” She called after Kai, who was making a quick retreat back to his room, swinging his arms purposefully and clutching Blue tightly. “Or is it to snuggle with at night?” Nya continued, snickering as Kai slammed his door shut.

Groaning, he hit his head against the closed door. Blue stared up at him with angry beady eyes. Kai glared back.

* * *

 

He came upon them by chance. The sun was just beginning to dim, and the useless chatter of the police lines droned on in Kai’s ear as he leisurely made his rounds. He often changed up his route, not wanting to settle into a routine. He was a _Ninja_ for Christ’s sake, the last thing he wanted was for the occupation to get boring.

And this discovery certainly was entertaining, if not a touch concerning.

He’d allowed his feet and wire grapple to pull him wherever they had wanted to head for the better half of the current hour as he scanned the streets filled with civilians below for any signs of trouble. Eventually, his wandering had lead him to the Ninjago King's apartments. It’d been a full week since the second mask was taken, and though he knew that everyone else had probably given the building several daily rounds as Kai had been doing, he let his apprehension get the best of him each time.

The adjacent buildings were both several stories shorter, obscuring the view of the top floor - the mayor’s floor, where he and his family were now staying. Apparently the damage done to their home had been worse than that done to the apartment, so they'd all been staying there while they waited for their renovations to finish.

Moving farther down the block, Kai had found a business building that stood a decent height taller than the apartments and allowed him a nice vantage to view the roof, though he was farther away than he'd like to be. He couldn't jump to the building from up here - well, he probably _could_ , because he was a Ninja, and he could do anything because he was _sick -_ but even he knew when not to try something just because he probably could. He could vaguely see into what seemed to be a bedroom to the long glass wall, but the glare of the setting sun hid it from him currently. Frustrated with the lack of action but satisfied that residents seemed to be coming and going as per usual, he had nearly turned and left the scene without a second thought.

Then, he saw the flash of green.

Casually, his leader dressed in full uniform appeared on the roof of the Ninjago King apartments from behind a large ventilation shaft previously hiding him from Kai’s sight. Without a thought, Kai dropped down to his stomach, air leaving his lungs from both the impact of his chest hitting the rooftop and the shock of seeing Green off the clock. Questions and possible excuses for the young leader’s sudden appearance jumbled through his mind as the boy casually sauntered a few steps from the vent with his hands clasped at his lower back, head pointing at his shoes. _Is he doing recon on the apartments? Making sure there's no remaining Sons of Garmadon hanging around? Did he forget it was my turn to patrol?_ Before he had the chance to feel angry, another figure danced out from behind the vent, and Kai’s barrage of questions instantly dissipated.

_Ah._

The young white haired girl stepped around Green, tilting her head under his gaze to catch his attention. When he looked up, her shoulders shook and she danced away again, bringing a hand up to her face. Green followed behind as if tied to a string, and they walked together around the fixtures on the roof.

Kai smirked, any residual anger he still felt for Green from last Friday forgotten. _Wu would be so pissed if he found out about this._ Kai snickered to himself, imagining their old mentor’s face if Green admitted to visiting the media-proclaimed princess of Ninjago City for rooftop dates.

Green pulled himself up to a thick horizontal pipe and walked along it towards Kai’s building, with Harumi trailing behind and looking up at him. Kai kept his head low, but inched closer to the edge as they walked under the corner of his building and disappeared from view. When he caught sight of them again, Harumi was trying to pull herself up to the pipe as well, but clearly struggling. Green’s shoulders shook, but he crouched down on the bar to support her as she shakily found her balance and slowly stood up with her arms spread wide.

Facing each other, Green kept his hands floating inches from Harumi as she rocked back and forth. He stepped back along the pipe, leaving her room to step forward. She immediately floundered, shooting out sharply to her left before Green's quick hands caught her and pulled her back up. From there, he kept his hands resting gently on her hips as he carefully walked backwards along the pipe and lead her forwards.

 _Hands to yourselves, children._ Kai thought, grinning softly. Sure, he could see how this probably wasn't the best idea Green had ever had. But even from Kai’s distance, he could see how relaxed Green's movements were compared to the stiff and uncertain boy Kai had seen the past week. He could very easily imagine all the many ways this kind of relationship could go wrong for Green, but he was a smart kid. Kai knew that he wouldn't just tell Harumi all of the teams secrets, or reveal his identity to her.

 _He has been pretty eager to reveal his identity in the past though._ Kai’s mind supplied before he could repress the thought. _What if he makes the same mistake with Harumi?_

 _He won’t._ Kai told himself firmly, watching Green help her down as they reached the end of the pipe with no further problems. He definitely noticed how their hands lingered together once Harumi touched safely down before Green ripped his away quickly and turned to hide what little of his face was showing, rubbing the back of his head quickly. _He’s grown a lot since then. That was a mistake that he’s learned from. He knows not to do it again._

If Kai was a good Ninja, he’d rush to the bounty to tell Wu about Green’s 'affair’, or climb down to interrupt the pair on their rooftop and put an end to it himself. Instead, he opted to be a good friend, and quietly slunk away from the edge, allowing the young teens their privacy, and continuing on for the remainder of his patrol with a smug grin and lighter chest. Despite all the obvious misgivings, he was happy for Green. Besides, it's not like Kai was doing anything dissimilar with befriending Jay _out_ of uniform, so who was he to judge.

When his patrol ended again with no signs of trouble in the city - not even something small, like a back alley mugging or some minor larceny, which was a total downer - he clocked out on his watch, seeing White clock in a moment later before Kai even had the chance to close the hologram. _Damn nindroid and his perfect scheduling skills._

He dropped the bright blue light of his holo, and glanced a the solid screen of his watch.

 _Ten O’clock exactly. Man, I’m glad it’s the weekend._ Kai hummed under his breath, removing his earpiece linked to police chatter and shutting it off before tucking it into his belt. He jogged home across the city skyline, mind drifting back to the apartment building several blocks behind him. He wasn't gonna tell Wu, but he was _definitely_ gonna tell Nya. He could tell she was getting frustrated with him not offering her any information of Blue’s civilian persona, so maybe a little harmless gossip on their leader would put her at ease. Kai knew she wouldn't snitch.

He slipped down the brick wall of their apartment, fingers and boot toes carefully digging into the uneven bricks and shaded window frames as he lowered himself down to their floor.

When he reached their window, he carefully rapped against it - two quick taps, a pause, and another tap, the pattern repeated twice. He waited.

Nobody answered. Kai frowned. If Nya was in her room, he was gonna give her so much shit for it. He hit the code again, as loud as he dared.

He heard footsteps approach the window, which was a bit off, because Nya usually was extremely adept at masking her steps and she tended to do it without thought. The habit had given Kai several good scares after she got into her training with Wu.

The blinds flew open, and Nya undid the latches, pulling the window up for Kai. He slipped through easily, landing carefully. He noticed the TV playing against the wall to their right, which was also strange, because they never really watched TV. “Kai,” Nya relatched the window behind him. “do you know what the hell just happened?”

Kai felt his anxiety spike. “There wasn’t an attack, was there? I didn’t get any notifications -”  
“No, no.” Nya shook her head, her bobbed hair swishing around her chin as she headed back to the couch. “Nothing like that. It’s the mayor.”

“Again?” Kai followed his sister hesitantly to the couch, sliding down the mask covering his lower face. “What the hell is up with this guy recently? Did he get in trouble again?”

“No, but - come here, look, they’re gonna show it again.” Nya grabbed the remote and upped the volume, pointing to the newscaster on TV. Kai hesitantly sat down, apprehension swimming in his gut.

_“- just an hour ago, announced over Twitter his support for the six vigilante Ninja that Ninjago is famous for. His quote reads - in response to a user asking about his recent run ins with the Ninja - ‘Yes, I am very grateful to them. They have done much for our city, and deserve recognition. Go ninja, go!’”_

“What?” Kai pulled down his hood, drawing his eyebrows together tightly.

Nya nodded quickly. “I know, right?” The image on the TV faded from the screenshot of his tweet to a pair of people separated by a split screen, the first already ranting before the fade was complete.  
“ _It’s completely unprofessional, is what it is! This man is promoting criminals who - who literally wear bandit masks! They disobey the law, damage private property, use excessive force, trespass, and - and people_ worship _them as if they’re heroes!”_

The person on the other half of the screen spoke up. _“They_ are _heroes, though! The police in Ninjago are poorly trained and understaffed, and without the Ninja, Ninjago would have been leveled several times over! Recognizing them for the good that they’ve done is the right thing to do, and frankly, it’s well overdue.”_

The argument continued back and forth until Kai finally snapped out of his trance, and reached for the remote to mute the TV.

“Geeze,” he mumbled, running a hand through his tousled hair. “I mean. Wow.”

“Yeah.” Nya agreed, flopping back on the couch. “They were saying earlier that he was told to delete it but refused. What the hell is he thinking?”

Kair dragged his hand down his face. “How the fuck would I know?”

“You ran into him twice last week. Did you give him an autograph or something?”

“What? No.” Kai shook his head slowly and pushed himself off the couch to pace around their kitchen. “And that was two weeks ago, now. I mean, I guess he was pretty grateful. Both times. I, uh - I heard him tell Green that he’d repay us someway, but - he’s gotta realize that this is just harming us, right?” Kai stopped and motioned to the TV, frustration rising. “All this extra media attention is just gonna mess up our steez. We had the perfect thing going, and now - now there’s _debates_ about us? If they start going after us for real, what the hell are we gonna do?”

Nya grunted, eyes still trained on the two people with faces growing steadily redder as they shouted wordlessly at each other. “I mean, I appreciate what he was trying to do.” Nya reasoned. “But he’s gotta be pretty dense to think that a positive tweet is gonna do us any favors.”

Kai groaned, throwing his head back and rubbing his eyes. “I swear, Wu better not call a meeting over this. I’m so tired, I just wanna enjoy the weekend.”

Nya snorted. “Oh, I’m sure you had an _exhausting_ day of hanging out with Blue.”   
Kai leaned against their counter, crossing his arms. “What makes you think I went out with Blue at all this week?”   
“Uh, dude.” Nya twisted her body to raise a skeptical eyebrow at him. “There were like, five empty boba cups in the trash. If you keep that up, you’re gonna have to get a job as well, because I’m not gonna keep paying for your dates with Blue.”   
Kai felt himself heat up. “Why the hell are you going through my trash?”   
“I _take out_ your trash.” Nya corrected. “If you don’t want me looking, learn how to take it out your damn self.”   
Kai scoffed. “Well, see if I buy you the Gray figure if you keep up that attitude.”

“‘ _That attitude’_ of taking out your trash?”   
“ _That attitude_ of digging for info about Blue.” Kai shot back, narrowing his eyes. “And teasing me for hanging with him. I’ve known him for years, so what if I wanna get an occasional drink with him?”   
“Or buy an action figure of him?” Nya added, crossing her arms and facing Kai with a smug grin. “Or spend everyday with him. Or talk with him for hours. Or lie awake at night thinking about him?”   
“Okay, whatever.” Kai threw up his hands in defeat, and turned to his room.   
“Oh come on, Kai, you know I was just teasing!” Nya called as Kai slammed his door shut. _She had no right to tease me about Jay._ Kai thought harshly, roughly unclipping his utility belt and letting it fall to the floor as he ripped off the mask and hood hanging around his neck, tossing them on top of this dresser. _Especially when he already has such an obvious hopeless crush on her._ Kai hadn’t ever teased Nya about that, and it was annoying that she wasn’t returning the favor.

 _Why can’t we just be friends?_ He stopped undressing and stared at the Blue on his dresser, arms held out in a ready stance. He was tired of over analyzing his relationship with Jay. To Jay, he was just some random guy that’d been buying him boba for the last two weeks, but to Kai, they were damn near family who had _literally_ taken bullets for each other. He would do a lot for Jay, just as he had done a lot for Blue.

Kai flopped onto his bed, still in his gi top and pants with his arms spread wide and gaze staring hopelessly at the ceiling. The more time he spent with Jay, the more he realized that he _was_ Blue. Not in the sense that Kai was Red, though, because when Kai was Red, he was braver. More confident. More brash, and skilled, and not afraid to speak his feelings. Kai was awkward, hung out with the queer scene kids at school, and spoke like an early two thousands cartoon that tried too hard to be hip and cool.   
But Jay was _Jay._ He wasn’t any different from when he was Blue. He talked quickly, smiled too much, as was quick to crack a joke. He was the same person that Kai has always known, so it was easy to fall into their familiar friendship.   
_But is it easy for Jay?_ Kai shifted in bed, lazily kicking off his shoes and letting them drop to the floor. _Does Jay like Kai the same way he likes Red?_

Kai sighed heavily, letting his eyelids eyelids close. He wasn’t even sure if _he_ liked Kai. Why should he expect Jay to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only about two or three chapters left!! :D Thanks so much for reading, I border on sobbing every comment I get kdjsafhlkdas my tumblr is whiparoundandcry ask me about my lego fanfiction on there!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are starting to build (finally)!!!!!!! a lot of this chapter was stuff that I was really excited to write, so i hope you all enjoy it. Just like last time my beta was akubis or @the-golden-ninja on tumblr!! Check em out their blog is A+
> 
> Minor trigger warning for this chapter: Kai is mugged near the end. It’s not too serious or anything but if you’ve been through something similar I know it can be hard to read!
> 
> It starts at “He just barely got a glance”, and if you wanna skip just ctrl+f to “Kai suddenly glanced up”. Happy reading!

  _“Greetings to Ninjago City on this beautiful fall day. As many citizens know, whether it be from personal experience or by that of a loved one or acquaintance, our city has had a very serious problem with violence and organized crime over the last several years. I campaigned for a peaceful Ninjago, and I am deeply troubled that I have not been able to bring that to you. I hope to be able to change change that very soon._

_“Our brave police force has extended themselves to their limits to keep our city and her citizens safe from harm. No one works harder than them in the effort to preserve the peace. However, they are not the only ones who work tirelessly to aid our public. As many of you have heard, I have had recent run-ins with the Ninjago Ninja when my family was targeted twice over the last several weeks. The first being when my dear daughter, Harumi, was taken hostage with a gun held to her head. I had never been more terrified in my life than in that moment. It was the Green Ninja who eventually took out the criminal and saved my daughter's life. And again, two weeks ago, when my home was invaded with my wife and daughter inside, and my city apartment torn apart. In both cases, it was the Ninja who came to my rescue and saved my family from harm._

_“Many of you have similar stories, ones that I have spent much of the past week reading as I have received countless emails of citizens sharing their own experiences with the Ninja, who either arrived before police could or captured the villans when our forces could not._

_“It is no secret the large dept that we owe to these six heroes of our city. As I child, I grew up seeing the First Spinjitzu Master followed by the Light Ninja and the Dark Ninja fighting crime and saving the day, just as the children of today are watching these current generation of Ninja do the same. I wish to learn from the past mistakes, and work for a future where the masked heros who protect our city are properly recognized and compensated for. Their hard work doesn't have to be outside of the law._

_“So, I am here today to send an invitation. I would like to invite the six Ninja of Ninjago to a formal conference at city hall to discuss a way to include them into our legal system. By working together, I believe we can finally put an end to the constant circle of crime plaguing our amazing city. I hope that all the Ninja, Green, Blue, Gray, Black, Red, and White, will join me and my team at City Hall at our next conference in one weeks time to aid us in drafting out a new bill that will welcome them with legal standing._

_“And lastly, I would like to issue an official thank you to each Ninja as well. From me, from my family, and from every citizen that has been saved by your hard work and dedication. We share a mutual love for this city, so let us work together to keep it safe. Thank you.”_

The television froze with the Mayor stepping down from his platform, cutting short the dozens of voices raising in question. Green stepped in front of the screen, remote clasped tightly in his gloved hand. “Okay, so. We have a couple of options with how we should proceed.”

Nya groaned loudly and buried her masked face into her hands, rubbing tight circles on her eyelids. “This is such a mess.”

“I don't see any problem!” Jay said, leaning forward on his beanbag. “Honestly, this seems like a cool opportunity. I'm for going to this conference thing.”

“It could be a trap.” White cautioned. The nindroid laced his fingers together and placed them under his nose as his eyebrows peaked out from under his hood and knitted together. “It doesn't seem very likely, but we can't ignore the possibility. We are technically as criminal as those we turn in to the police.”

Green nodded, eyes contemplative. “He's right. We can't rush into anything without considering all the possibilities.”

Black sighed roughly, fist digging into his chin. “I don't know. I mean, he seemed pretty sincere but - I can't see anything good coming from us at a political convention or whatever. What benefit does he think is gonna come from us being there? I mean, if they wanna legalize us, then cool, that's great.”

“That's _super_ great!” Jay nodded. “I don't even know what we're discussing. The mayor just offered to wipe our records clean on public television! Why wouldn't we jump at that opportunity?”

“I highly doubt it's as simple as that.” White said. “It's probable that they'll try to extract our personal information, such as our identities, or the location of the Destiny's Bounty.”

“So what do we do, stand him up?” Nya questioned.”Or go and refuse his offer?”

“Or set the offer on our own terms.” Jay butted in. “Seriously, this is a golden opportunity, we shouldn't pass it up!”

“Red?” Green asked, staring directly at Kai. “You haven't said anything. What do you think?”

Kai shifted on the couch, hopelessly trying to ease his discomfort. He had already watched the whole speech through when it dropped just an hour ago with Nya in their apartment. He felt just as hopeless now as he did then.

No one had brought up the Sons of Garmadon since they stole the second mask and subsequently fell silent, but there was still a lingering sense of resentment hanging in the air between Wu, Green, and everyone else. Perhaps that was why Wu wasn't offering any of his advice in this matter, only sitting on his office chair outside of the circle of ninja, watching their discussion with narrowed eyes. Kai was still mad at him, but he'd almost prefer the norm of Wu bossing them around and forcing them to train for hours rather than his current observation. It felt foreign, and put Kai in all the more unease.

This was also the first time he was face to face with Green since he had spotted him on the rooftop with Harumi last week. He hadn’t told anyone- not even Nya, since it slipped his mind the night he saw them. He hadn’t seen the pair together since, though he kept coming back the the building adjacent to the apartments where he had first spied on them. He wondered briefly if Harumi knew about her father’s plans, and if she had warned Green about this announcement before it aired.

_Just another secret to keep from the rest of us._

Kai shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I- I don’t know what we should do. I guess… I think it’s worth a shot? Me and Blue have had the most interaction with the Mayor recently, so he's got my back when I say that the guy doesn't seem the type to try an backstab us.”

“He's right.” Jay piped up, perfectly on command. “Guys like a puppy. Eager to please, but not super clever. I mean, he moved the mask he knew was gonna get targeted home with his wife and child. He couldn't plan anything devious ”

Green nodded, one arm crossed over this chest and the other playing with the bandana covering his chin. “I got that vibe from him too. You both think that we should go?”

Jay nodded decisively, but Kai continued to mull it over. Did Green know more about the mayor than he was letting on, or were his rooftop dates with Harumi strictly non-business? If Green was keeping his time with Harumi a secret from the team, Harumi probably wasn’t telling her dad about him either.

Kai sighed quietly, frustrated at trying to account for all the factors that he didn’t know. He still had enough faith in Green to give him privacy to woo the Ninjago princess if he wanted to, but there were too many secrets being kept between the team recently. Either way, Kai figured, there’d be nothing to gain from missing out on the Mayor’s conference. Maybe they could even learn something.

Green faced the second half of the team. “What about you guys? We’ll only settle on a plan if it's unanimous.”

Black was the first to speak, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, sure. I got no plans next Saturday. And we could easily take whatever he throws at us, if it is a trap.”

White nodded. “In that case, I will side with the majority. I am interested to hear what the city council has to offer us.”

All eyes settled on Nya as she visibly grappled with her thoughts. “I just don't see anything pertinent actually _coming_ from it.” She confessed after several moments of silence, throwing her hands up in defeat. “I can't imagine it being anything but a huge waste of time.”

“We can figure out something else if you’re totally against it.” Green reasoned. “We could bug the room a few days prior, and listen in on -”

“No,” Nya shook her head, eyebrows drawn tightly together. She turned on her beanbag to directly face Kai on the couch. “Red, I’ll go if you really think it'll be worth it.”

Kai froze as all attention refocused to him. He shifted again, stuck in a constant state of unease. His sister's concerns were his own, so couldn't bring himself to lie to her and say that going to this meeting would go over smoothly, or even benefit them in the long run.

His eyes ghosted over Green before glancing away quickly. He wished he knew how much their leader wasn’t telling them. He caught Jay’s eyes, brimming with hope. Kai didn't know why the freckled boy was being so trusting of the mayor, or why he was so eager to try this conference. But even when their leader was keeping things from them, Kai knew that he trusted his teammate. _Not enough to tell him who you are, though._ Kai ignored himself.

“Yes.” He said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. “I don't know if we'll come out better for it, but gaining nothing is better than having missed the opportunity to gain something.” He noticed Wu nodding in the corner of his vision. He bit his cheek, almost wanting to take the words back if Wu liked them. _I'm not seeking your appraisal._

Nya searched his masked face for a moment longer before nodding once. “Okay.” She said concisely. “I’m in. We’ll go to his party.”

Green nodded in return. “Alright.” He hesitated, eyes darting to Wu. The others followed his gaze, shifting to cast their sensei an unspoken question. Kai didn't want to join, but the herd mentality took hold of him. Even if he was still directing the majority of his anger at the old man, he needed some sort of semblance of normality.

Wu huffed and slouched back into his chair. “The invitation was sent to the Ninja, something which I am no longer. You must make this decision yourselves.”

Green nodded again, more confidently. “Okay then. We'll meet up here the day of, one hour before the meeting to discuss possible talking points or preparations.”

“Yes!” Jay fell back on his beanbag, fist pumping into the air. “I got a good feeling about this one guys, I promise. This is gonna be a game changer for us.”

White shook his head slowly. “That's what worries me, Blue.”

* * *

 

“So you hear about the mayor’s announcement?”

Kai groaned inwardly, just barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I think some kids in my history class were talking about it?” That was the biggest understatement of the year. The entire school wouldn’t shut up about it.  
Jay nodded quickly, motioning with the hand that wasn’t holding his cup. “Pretty exciting, right? Do you think they’re gonna go?”

 _Gee, it’s not like we just had an in depth conversation about this two nights ago._ Kai felt a smile ghost his lips. He shrugged, playing along. “I dunno. I hope they do. I’d love to see how they’d look sitting at a long table filled with old crusty white guys in suits. I hope someone takes a picture.”  
Jay snorted. “I hope they go too. I bet they will.”

Kai cocked an eyebrow at him, holding back a smile. “What makes you say that?”

“I just - uh -” Kai was rewarded with Jay spluttering for half a second. “I have a sense for these kinda things. Where are you taking me again?”

 _Smooth._ Kai pointed ahead with the hand holding his cup. “There’s a park just over there with this super sick graffiti mural thing. You’ll love it.”

True to form, after they crossed the street into the park and the painted brick wall became visible, Jay squealed in excitement. “ _Oh my gosh!_ ” Jay practically vibrated in place, bouncing on his heels. “This is awesome!”

Kai smirked, pride welling up in his chest. The graffiti image of him and his team in a full action shot with weapons swinging and elements blasting was quite impressive, and it had made this park his favorite in the city, but Kai barely gave it a second glance now. Instead, he intently watched Jay’s expression as joy and pride danced behind his sparking eyes and his freckles moved with his grin.  
“Right? I love coming here to chill when I’m stressed out. I just sit on that bench over there -” He pointed to a bench off of the path facing the mural. _\- and I think about how even though I’m struggling with school and with my social life and with my future, I’m still doing a lot of good right now by saving and inspiring others._ “- and space out.”  
“Neat.” Jay followed Kai’s finger, nodding thoughtfully. “I might have to steal that spot sometime - _ooooOOHH_ Kai!!” Jay interrupted himself, suddenly gripping Kai’s shoulder with his free hand and jumping up and down again.

Kai raised an eyebrow, but smiled at Jay’s antics. “What?”

“Look, there’s Chen’s Noodle House! We should get something to eat!”

With a jolt, Kai realized that Jay was right. He hadn’t even noticed that this grafiti was in the same square as Chen’s. He grimaced slightly, but tried to hide the expression from Jay. “Oh, yeah, I forgot that was here.”

“Have you been?” Jay turned his expression towards Kai, and he felt his apprehension melt a little. “Don’t tell me this is the one place in Ninjago that you _haven’t_ been to.”  
Kai shifted awkwardly, playing with the straw in his empty cup. “Not since the owner turned out to be a supervillain.” He answered honestly.

“Oh, well you don’t have to worry about that!” Jay prattled on. “The business was taken over by his daughter, Skylor. She’s super cool, I’ve talked to her a couple times before. We might even run into her if we go in now, she works there pretty often.”

 _That’s exactly what I’m afraid of._ Kai chewed his lip, trying to quickly think up an excuse that wasn’t _I flirted with her a lot as Red before realizing she was Chen’s daughter and working for him and then when she turned against him and helped us defeat him I promised that I’d keep in touch but haven’t seen her since and I don’t want her to recognize me out of uniform._ “Eh, I’m not hungry.” Kai shrugged lamely.

“Oh come on!” Jay pouted. “This is the one day I actually bothered to bring my wallet and pay for my own shit.” He raised the Doomsday Comix bag hanging around his elbow with his new Blue action figure hidden inside for emphasis. “Let me buy you some noodles dude, they’re good, I swear!”  
Kai looked away from Jay’s pleading face. A part of him _really_ wanted to give in. Going out to eat with Jay sounded like it’d be tons of fun, but for some reason, it also made his stomach feel like it was tying itself in knots. He told himself it was because he was nervous of seeing Skylor. _If I was nervous about her recognizing me alone, there’s no doubt she’d realize who we_ both _are if I went in together with Jay._ “I… I’m not feeling it.” Kai said, feeling his chest wither at Jay’s crestfallen expression. “I’m sorry. We could go somewhere else?”  
Jay sighed overdramatically, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. “ _Fine,_ but we should come back here sometime. It’s good food, and I wanna be the one to show you something for once.”

Kai smiled again, feeling his nervous energy drain as they turned their backs to Chen’s and began walking down the path in the park. He tossed his empty cup in a trashcan, Jay following suite. “What, you getting tired of me playing show and tell around town? We could do other things after school, if you want. Or you could do your own thing. You won’t hurt my feelings, I swear.”

“No, no!” Jay held up his hands and shook his head. “I mean, I love hanging out with you, dude. Really. I just, I dunno, wanna return the favor?” He glanced at his side, avoiding Kai’s curious gaze. Kai felt the knot in his stomach return. “You’ve been taking me to all the cool places and buying me shit - hell, you gave me these practically the second we met!” Jay motioned to the ever present earbuds that trailed up his shirt and tucked into his collar. “I just wanna give you something back, yaknow?”

Kai was touched. He smiled softly, eyebrows just barely drawing together. “Awh man, dude, you don’t need to.. do…” Kai trailed off, eyes catching on a particular grocery store. He slowed to a stop, stomach sinking for a second time.

Jay stopped with him. Kai couldn’t see his expression due to his sudden tunnel vision, but his confusion was evident in his tone. “To do…?”

“We need to go.” Kai grabbed Jay’s wrist, every muscle in his body suddenly tensing up as he glanced around the street wildly.

“What? Why? Is something wrong?”

Kai shook his head, ready to tear down the street. “No, we just -” The hair on the back of his neck rose a split second before he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He froze, alarms blaring in his head as he slowly turned around.  
Nya smiled up at him. “Hey bro.”

Kai hoped that she saw the threat of pain and suffering in his eyes as clear as he saw the malicious delight and hellfire burning in hers. “Hello, stranger.” He said cooly, trying to step in front of Jay to block him from Nya’s view, though he felt him peeking around his shoulder.

“How sweet of you to come visit during my lunch break!” Nya cooed, dusting her hands off on the apron still tied to her body. “How did you even know?”  
“Bad luck.” He whispered through gritted teeth as Jay wiggled his way around Kai and faced Nya. _Fuck._ _  
_ “Uh, hi?” Jay greeted, glancing between Kai and Nya.

Nya’s eyes widened in mock surprise as she pretended to notice Jay for the first time. Kai saw her drink in every detail of his face as she studied him for a split second before answering. “Oh, I’m sorry! You must be my brother’s friend.” She cast a quick glance at Kai, who was trying very hard to communicate telepathically with his sister that _I will fucking murder you if you do this I swear to god why are you this way I have a katana hidden in my room you know I could do it -_  “He’s told me _so much_ about you, but I don’t think I ever got a name?”

“Oh!” Jay glanced with wide eyes between Kai and Nya. Kai held his breath, wondering if this was the line it took for Jay to finally crack and realize Kai’s secret. And Nya’s secret too, now, because she apparently had gotten over any qualms about outing themselves. “I didn’t realize you had a sister.” Jay continued, looking at Kai. “I don’t think you ever mentioned her.”

“Really? I’m hurt.” Nya placed a hand on her chest, blinking up at Kai. Kai couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he kept his body tense, waiting for the moment when recognition would light up on Jay’s face.

“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jay.” He held out his hand, completely unaware that he just outed himself to a teammate for the second time that month.  
Nya took his hand, smiling politely but obviously studying his features for the same recognition Kai was waiting for. “I’m… Nya.”

“Oh! That’s a nice name.” Jay complimented. Kai’s feet itched to run away.

Nya smirked. “Thanks! I picked it myself.”

“Haha, what?”

“So, do you wanna hear all the stuff Kai’s said about you?”

That did it. “Well, it was very nice running into you! But you know, Jay here promised to take me to Chen’s Noodles, so we best be off!”

Kai gripped Jay’s shoulders and tried to gently lead him away, but the boy stood still, glancing back at Kai with wide eyes. “What, you changed your mind?”

“Chen’s?” Nya asked, raising her eyebrows. “You’re getting him to go into Chen’s?”

“Uh.” Jay glanced back one more time at Kai. “Yeah, I guess?”

Nya snorted and rolled her eyes. “Pretty impressive, Jaybird. I hope I’ll be seeing more of you. Come by our apartment sometime!” She waved the pair off as Kai steered Jay away from his sister and speed walked back up the park in the direction of Chen’s.  
“Jaybird?” Jay questioned, stumbling slightly as he tried to keep up with the pace that Kai was pushing him at.

“Sorry about her,” Kai apologized, letting them slow down and dropping Jay's shoulders as he glanced back down the sidewalk to see that Nya had disappeared. _Sneaky bastard._ He wondered how long she had been watching them before she approached. “She’s a bit weird.”

“Ahah, nah, she seemed nice. I liked her.” Jay continued walking down the path, content grin on his face.

 _Liked her? Or_ liked _her?_ Kai suddenly studied Jay a little closer. By some miracle or level of obliviousness, he still hadn’t seem to realize Kai was Red or that Nya was Gray. But Kai knew that he had a crush on Gray - hell, the whole _team_ knew, because Jay was shit at subtlety - but did he also have a crush on Nya? He had only met her for a couple seconds, sure, but was that a light blush on his cheeks?

“Were you serious about going to Chen’s? Because - I still would really like to go, you know, but. Only if you’re serious. I get it if you just needed an excuse to get away from your sister.”

Kai blinked. Had he said that? He glanced up, seeing Chen’s just across the street as the pair of them turned to the crosswalk.  
“Oh, uh, sure. I mean,” Kai scratched the back of his neck. He still had all his earlier inhibitions, but what Jay had said about returning Kai’s favors stuck with him. “Yeah. We can go. It’ll be fun.”

Jay smiled up at him, eyes shining and dimples swallowing his freckles. Kai thought it was impossible to not return the smile.

“I’m glad. And I mean, really, there’s nothing to be stressed about.” Jay continued as the light switched to green and they crossed the street, the noodle house looming ever closer. “I mean, it’s unfortunate that they couldn’t change the name, but the place doesn’t have anything to do with Chen anymore. And that guy’s long gone anyways. Skylor’s super cool, you’ll love her.”

Kai smiled crookedly as they neared the doors. “Yeah.” _There’s no guarantee that she’ll even be there. Just chill out and enjoy your time with Jay._

Jay swung the door open with a chime, walking through with Kai close behind to reveal a redhead girl sorting through menus behind a counter. She glanced up at the pair as they entered. _Fuck._

“Oh, Jay!” Skylor greeted, dawning an easy smile. “Nice to see you again. You alone today?”

Kai balked. Skylor knew Jay? By _name_? Did she also know who he was? Did he reveal himself to her? Jay laughed. “Hi Skylor. Nah, I brought a friend from school. This is Kai.”

Kai felt like melting as Skylor’s eyes traveled from Jay to himself. He raised a hand in an awkward half wave as she studied him. He swore her eyes lingered for a few seconds longer than they should have, a small crease forming between her eyebrows for a split second- but then she was looking back at Jay, expression impossible to read as she smiled politely. “Well, it’s nice to see you going out. Tell your parents I say hi when you get home. Ed and Edna are some of my best tippers.” She grabbed two menus and led the boys further into the restaurant.

Even when he was dizzy with unease and awkwardness, Kai still found energy to poke fun at his teammate. “Dude, your parent’s are named _Ed_ and _Edna_?”

Jay laughed. “Yeah, they have a best meet-cute. You’d have to hear it from them, though, I suck at telling it.”

Skylor led them to a booth, laying out their menus as they took their seats. She fished out her notepad from the string tied around her apron. “Any drinks?”

Kai studied her face again as he and Jay ordered. She didn’t give away any clues that she knew who he was, and walked off to grab their drinks without any further chatting. Still uneasy, Kai buried his face in the menu. He heard Jay grab something off of the conveyor belt and rip open his chopsticks.  
“So,” Jay began. Kai lowered his menu, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Is Nya older or younger than you?”  
“Oh.” Kai leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table as he watched the conveyor belt carry food past him. “She’s a year younger than me.”

Jay hummed, swallowing his sushi before continuing. “I don’t think I’ve seen her around school.”  
“She doesn’t go.” Kai drummed his fingers on the table, wondering how much detail he should go into. He was still annoyed at his sister for her earlier antics, but he’d never out her. “She was bullied a lot and had to drop out.”  
“Really?” Jay lowered his chopsticks, eyes widening. “I can’t imagine who would do that. I mean, she looks like she could break me in half.”

Kai snorted. “Yeah, she did throw a few punches. She might’ve gotten expelled if she didn’t drop out first.” He pulled a plate off of the belt and opened his own chopsticks, anxiety slipping away. “I almost got expelled for it. Ended up with a two week suspension for knocking out some asshole’s tooth.” Jay laughed. “They tried to call in our parents, but- ah, nevermind. That’s another story. Those bastards still got off easy, though.”

Jay gave him a questioning look, but thankfully didn’t push him any further. “I wish I was there. I’d have gladly helped out.”

Kai smiled at the sushi held between his chopsticks, revisiting his sophomore fantasy of busting into his school in full gi with the team behind him and beating the shit out of anyone who picked on his sister. “I wish you were there too. But it’s all better now, Nya’s a lot happier and -” He cut himself off as he saw Skylor approach their table.  
“Here’s your drinks.” She said, pulling two cups off of the plate she carried on her left palm. “Did I hear you mention Nya? She comes in fairly often, do you two know her?” She asked innocently.

 _Too innocently_ . Kai narrowed his eyes.  
“Yeah, she’s Kai’s sister!” Jay said cheerily.  
“ _Sister?_ ” Skylor questioned, raising her eyebrows and glancing at Kai. Kai didn’t know what to make of her tone. Her expression quickly smoothed back out, and she pulled out her notepad again, flipping to a new page. “Well, it’s a shame you never came in with her, _Kai_ . It’s a pleasure to meet you. Ordering anything from the kitchen?”  
Kai didn’t like how she drawled out his name. _She knows._ He told the voice in his head to shut up as he quickly breezed through the menu again.

After they both ordered their noodles, Skylor took back their menus. As she leaned over to take Kai’s, their fingers brushed for a split second. She winked at him before pulling away and leaving with their order. Kai felt like dying. Jay was happily sipping his soda, none the wiser.

“Oh yeah, so I found this personality quiz last night that tells you which Ninja you are…”

Despite his suspicions about Skylor, Kai found it easy to fall back into steady conversation with Jay. By the time their noodles came - with a different waitress, which Kai was equally worried by and thankful for - they were laughing loudly and hitting the table in joy. Jay ended up coaxing Kai into taking the quiz with him, though Kai was nervous to see if he would actually get himself.

When they both ended the quiz getting Blue, Kai made a show of reiterating how Blue was his favorite Ninja, just to keep up his fanboy facade and definitely not because he loved how soft Jay’s face got whenever he mentioned it.

When the new waitress came around with the cheque, Kai could see the light dimming outside.

“Ah shit, what time is it? I hope we didn't miss your bus.”

“It’s fine.” Jay waved him off, leaning back in his seat. “I can catch the next one, this was worth missing it for.”

Kai nodded, leaning back in their booth. “Yeah. I gotta say, I'm glad you convinced me to come in. We should do it again some time.” Not for the first time since their meal, Kai glanced around the restaurant, wondering if Skylor was still there. Her absence made him more relaxed, but it also made him suspicious.

Jay’s eyes lit up. “Totally! And I’m glad I got to take you someplace for a change. If you ever wanna like - hang out on the weekends, or something, I could show you some of the cool places outside of town too.”

Kai grinned. “Dude, I’d -”

“Sorry for the wait!” Suddenly, Skylor was by their table, handing Jay back his card and receipt. “And sorry I disappeared for a bit, had to take care of some business stuff.” She tucked a lose strand of curly red hair behind her ear and smiled down at the pair. “Did you enjoy the meal?”

“Always.” Jay answered, slipping out of his seat to tuck his card back in his wallet.

Kai followed him out of the booth, weary of Skylor. “It was amazing.” He said honestly, leaning against the table.

Skylor smiled at him, her features betraying nothing. “I'm glad.” She led them both to the door.

He grinned awkwardly, not knowing what else to say as he passed her. Skylor stopped him as Jay disappeared outside, and placed a napkin in his hand with two mints wrapped inside. Their eyes locked for a split second, and Kai felt the remaining lightness of his meal with Jay fall away as he read the glint in her eyes. _She knows._

“It was nice meeting you, _Kai_. I hope to see more of you.”

Feeling queasy, Kai could barely manage a nod before racing out the doors after Jay. He found the other boy zipping up his jacket, street light just flickering on above him. “Hey, what was the holdup?”

Kai swallowed. “Oh, uh, I got some mints, or something.” He held out the napkin, letting it unwravel to reveal two wrapped chocolates.

“Oh, awesome.” Jay grinned and grabbed one, pausing after he lifted it. His grin faltered. “Uh, I think she wrote something?”

“What?” Kai pulled his hand back, picking up his candy to reveal Skylor’s message.

_You should come by more often <3 _

Jay leaned forward to get a clearer view of the napkin. “What does it say?”

“Uh.” Kai’s felt his ears heat up.

A beat of since passed as Jay read the message. Kai’s heart was pounding sporadically in his chest. _She wrote it in red ink,_ He noted. _She knows she knows she knows she knows-_

“Oh man, uh, that's awkward.” Jay gave an obviously forced laugh and fell back, rubbing his neck. “Was she - was she hitting on you? I mean, I didn't even notice. I guess I'm really dense like that, heh.”

Kai shook his head slowly, pushing the napkin into his pocket and leading them away from the restaurant. “No, she - I mean, I guess, yeah. But that’s… I dunno.”

They lapsed into silence for a few steps. Kai had no idea what to say. Jay broke it when they reached the crosswalk signal again. “Did you… like her?”

“What? No, no - well -” Kai stuttered. He did like her at some point, obviously. And she had seemed to readily return the feelings - whether that too was part of her ruse while working for Chen, though, Kai still wasn't sure. Was the over the top flirting from today genuine, or just her making fun of Kai? _Probably the latter,_ he figured. It’d been almost a year since they defeated her dad, and subsequently since he had last spoken to her. She had impressed him by being witty and strong and beautiful, and from what he had seen today, she was still all of those things. Did he still like her now? “No.” He answered again. “She seems nice, but - I'm not really interested.”

Jay nodded as the light changed, seemingly satisfied with Kai’s answer. “Alright. I already have a friend who's like, madly in love with her anyways.”

Kai’s stomach turned. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, and they like, flirted back and forth for weeks. It was super gross. I don't need more than one friend pining hopelessly after this girl.”

Kai snorted. “Hey, you said that they flirted back and forth. He doesn't sound hopeless to me.”

“Oh, she was totally playing him. ” Jay waved it off. “You could see it from a mile away.”

 _Like you're any better with Nya._ He wanted desperately to say it, but knew he never could. Instead, he rolled his eyes and felt the heavy weight of Skylor’s note in his pocket.

 _I can't just leave her alone if she really does know._ He chewed his bottom lip, mind racing. _Maybe I_ should _pay her another visit._

* * *

 Kai had been sitting on the roof for forty-five minutes when the back door of Chen’s Noodles swung open. He tensed, his muscles aching from the chilly night. The weather was starting to steadily dip, and Kai had never been one to be tolerant of the cold, even before he got the power to shoot fire from his fingertips.

Gratefully, he recognized the long curly hair and confident strut of the silhouette carrying two large trash bags into the alleyway as Skylor. He had been waiting to catch her when she left to go home, but this seemed like as good of an opportunity as any. _And I am so done with sitting in this cold_ , he added to himself as he slipped soundlessly off of the roof.

His feet quietly touched down in the alleyway as Skylor chucked her garbage into the dumpster. Kai glanced wearily at the back door to Chen’s behind him, and the bright fluorescent light hanging over it that gave the alleyway some shape. _Okay, maybe this isn’t the best position. Or the best idea._

He slowly drew himself upright, already thinking of several escape plans when Skylor stiffened in front of him. Heart racing wildly in his chest, he watched her turn slowly to face him. Even hidden in the shadows, Kai could see her eyes widen in surprise as she took notice of him. _No backing out now._

A few beats passed. Kai’s mind fell blank, the intimidating speech he had been practicing on the roof to make her confess and promise silence completely forgotten. He was sure his expression wasn’t too different from Skylor’s. At least his was mostly hidden behind his gi.

Skylor got over her shock first, slipping quickly into a sly grin. “ _Well!_ If it isn’t the Red Ninja! How long has it been since I saw you, hmm?”

Kai came back to with a snap. He took a pace forward, trying to appear intimidating, but not threatening. “Skylor, you know why I’m here.” He inwardly winced. _Okay, too much. Dial it back, Red._ “I’m… sorry I didn’t visit sooner -”  
Skylor leaned back against the dumpster, eyes still alight with amusement. “You know, when I said you should visit more often, I didn’t mean _this_ often.”

Kai took a deep breath. There were enough clues to make him certain enough that she knew for him to even be in this position, but hearing her confirm it still felt like a blow to the gut. “You... you _have_ to keep my secret.” Kai hated how pleading his voice sounded. The Red Ninja was never this weak, but with his identity on the line, he didn’t know what else he could do. If it was anyone but Skylor, there’d definitely be a lot more things on fire at this point. “Please. And… and the others.” He still wasn’t sure how much she knew, but the way she had mentioned Nya earlier in the night left his chest hollow.

Skylor studied his masked face for a few seconds before responding. “...you know, you’re the first to visit me in uniform, but the last to visit me out of it.”

Kai felt the blood drain from his face. “So you know _everyone?_ ”  
She shrugged casually. “You’re not that hard to pick out. Most of the customers who came in after Dad was arrested only talked about it in whispers, but you all asked me about how I was dealing with it, if I was settling in ok, because you came in to _check up_ on me, of all things. Well, most of you did, anyways.” She cast him a pointed look.

Kai glanced away. “I didn’t come in because I was scared of exactly that. Our identities are what let us lead normal lives - it would _ruin_ us if we were unmasked -”

“Oh, I know, I know. I’ve read about Wu.” Skylor waved him off. “I’ve kept your secrets this long, haven’t I?”

Kai felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. “Thank you.”

Skylor smiled at him. “You’re all safe, don’t worry about it. Jay, Nya, Lloyd-”

“ _Don’t!_ ” Kai flinched away violently, covering his ears with his palms. “Don’t say their names! ”

Skylor straightened up instantly, eyebrows knit tightly in confusion. “What? Why not? I check this alley for bugs every weekend, there’s no one else listening.”

Kai slowly dropped his hands and straightened his back, embarrassment and dread rising. “I…”

Skylor’s eyes narrowed further. “Why did you cover your ears?”  
Kai’s shoulders slumped. _She might as well know the location of the Bounty too, at this rate._ “You _can’t_ tell me their names. I can’t know who they are.” he said in defeat.

Skylor gave him an incredulous look. “But you obviously already do! You just came in with Jay today, and-”

“ _Names._ ” Kai hissed. It didn’t matter how alone they were, it felt wrong to use their civilian names in his uniform.  
Skylor rolled her eyes. “You came in with _Blue_ today, and apparently Gray is your sister? By the way, is that like, biological? Excuse me for asking, but I never would’ve guessed -”

“ _Yes._ ” Kai sighed, glancing up and down the alleyway to make _absolutely_ sure that there were no nosey passerbys. “But that’s a marker, so the public _can’t know_.”

“What more proof do you need that I’m good at keeping secrets?” Skylor threw up her arms, and took a couple steps closer to Kai as she continued. “But you and Blue, you obviously know each other. Do you really not know any of your other teammate’s identities?” Kai glanced away.

 _Green._ His mind supplied, but he pushed it back. He’d spent years already trying to forget that name - despite hearing it from Skylor’s mouth just minutes earlier. _Green doesn’t count. He made a mistake._ “No. And Blue doesn’t know who I am, so you can’t-”

“ _What?_ ” Skylor balked. “You’re dating and he doesn’t even know you’re his teammate?”

Kai’s mind cut out. “W-wh-wh-what? No, he - what? No. No! We-we’re not -”

Skylor’s face twisted into something Kai couldn’t read. Confusion? Amusement? Pity? “You’re seriously telling me the _friend from school_ line wasn’t code for -”

“ _No!_ ” Kai dragged his hands down his face, turning away from Skylor and pacing further into the shadows. “We’re literally friends from school! He showed up one day and I recognized him but he hasn’t recognized me yet - Jesus christ, Skylor!” He spun back around to see her still standing in the light cast by the fluorescent above her restaurant back door, her shoulders shaking in laughter.  
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry for assuming. I _was_ going to congratulate you on finally getting over me, but it appears you’re still single.”

Kai shifted, blowing softly into his palm covering his mask. “That’s the other reason I’m here.” He admitted, eyes trained intently on the dumpster against the other wall.  
“Oh?” Skylor prompted.

Kai took a deep breath. “I… I said that I would keep in touch, and I never did. So… I’m sorry, for that. I didn’t want to risk my identity being outed. Gray tried to get me to go with her in our civvies, but… I was too embarrassed.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I know that you’re trustworthy, and you proved to be a good friend when you helped us defeat Chen, but -”

“Awhh, Reddie.” Suddenly, Skylor was standing in front of him. She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t get all _sappy_ on me.”

Kai blinked. “Reddie?” _Sappy?_ Her eyes glinted like she was prompting a certain response out of him, but Kai had no idea what she wanted him to say, so he stared blankly.

“No names, right?” She shrugged and turned away. Kai wondered if he had just failed some kind of test. “You don’t have to worry about anything being awkward between us. I wasn’t really expecting you to visit, you know - I wasn’t expecting _any_ of you to visit, but I appreciate it nonetheless.” She paused in her stride for a second. “Oh, and I’m a lesbian, so we really wouldn’t have worked out anyways.”

Kai spluttered as Skylor continued making her way to the door. “What! But - but you flirted back! You flirted with me just a couple hours ago!”

Skylor chuckled with one hand on the door handle. She glanced back at Kai in the shadows. “What can I say? I love the game.” She tossed him a wink, and Kai felt alright. “But seriously, come in more often! Bring your friends - or the ones you know, at least.”

Skylor disappeared inside, leaving Kai alone and a mix of emotions in the dark alleyway to sort through his new information. _Skylor knows everyone’s identities. Skylor knows that we don’t know each other’s identities. Skylor’s a lesbian._ Shaking his head, Kai turned and briskly walked to the end of the alley, using a drainage pipe to propel himself up the wall and back to the roof of the noodle house. _Skylor keeps a lot of secrets. But,_ He concluded to himself, fishing out his wire and making his way back home. _She’s a good ally to have._

* * *

 Kai stalled outside of his highschool, other students milling around chatting with friends and beginning to head home. He drummed his fingers against his backpack strap, humming in thought. _Have I really grown so reliant on Jay already that I forgot what I usually do after school?_ He idly tapped his foot. _I guess I’ll just… go home?_

“Kai!” Jay raced down the stairs of the school, skidding to a stop in front of him and gulping down air.

Kai’s eyes widened in surprise. Jay had patrol scheduled right after class today, so he wasn't expecting to see him at all. “Hey dude. What's up?”  He'd thought that it’d be polite of him to sneak away and give Jay a clean getaway, but apparently the boy had different plans.

“I - I can't hang out today.” He gasped, gripping his knees and looking up at Kai. “I, uh, gotta retake a test in the library. But, we can hang after I get out? If you want?” He puffed out a breath of air, straightening up.

Kai creased his brow slightly. His patrols usually took up to five hours to complete, how did Jay get off with such a short shift? “Sure man. How long will you be?”

Jay shrugged nonchalantly, turning his face away. “Uh, I dunno. I didn't really study much, hence the retaking. How about I text you when I get out?”

Kai raised a skeptical eyebrow. Jay knew damn well how long he was gonna be, they had patrols scheduled down to the minute. At least he was dedicated to this test retake lie. “Sure. Here, you can put your number in my phone.” Kai fished his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it before handing it over.

Jay grinned as he took it. “Awesome. And you can just shoot me a text so I get your number.”

Kai watched him type away at his screen, soft smile slowly dawning on his lips. _Dude, if you wanted to exchange phone numbers, you coulda just asked._

Jay jumped a bit as the phone vibrated in his hands. His stalled for a split second before handing it quickly back, hand reaching to rub his neck. “Oh, uh, Nya wants you to pick up something for her? Sorry, I didn’t mean to read it.”

Kai took back his phone, pulling up the text curiously.

 

_Nya_

_Thursday, 4:28 pm_

_hey fucker i kno ur still mad at me but remember to pick up my E refill for me_

 

“Oh.” Kai smacked himself lightly on the head, irritation spiking. He had made such a big deal that Nya didn’t need to constantly remind him about it, but she _still_ obviously didn’t think enough of him to trust him to do this by himself. More than that, though, he was pissed at himself for proving her right.“Right, I totally forgot. I gotta go out anyways.”

Jay leaned forward curiously as Kai repocketed his phone. “Uh, not to pry, but what’re you guys arguing about?”

 _You._ Kai shook his head, his mind jumbled with the argument they had last night. “Just sibling stuff - you know, annoying little sister and whatnot.”  
“Oh, ok. What’s 'E' stand for?”

“Estrogen.” Kai flinched right after he said it. _Oops._ No matter how mad he was at Nya, he would never mean to out her without her permission. Too late to take it back now, though.

“Oh.” Jay paused for a second, visibly processing. “Oh! So, that why she said-why she -” Jay smacked himself on his forehead, mimicking Kai’s earlier move. “I’m-I’m totally cool with that, by the way. I mean -” he visibly cringed at his wording. Despite the situation, Kai couldn’t help but snort in laughter. “I mean-I’m not, I’m not a dick. Nya’s cool. She’s cool. I support -”

“Dude, it's ok.” Kai clapped a hand on Jay’s shoulder, chuckling at how he snapped his mouth shut. “Don't even worry about it. I'm sure she appreciates it. You not being a dick, I mean.”

Jay smiled shyly at him “Sorry. I just wanted to say that - _fuck!_ ” Jay jumped as the Borg watch on his wrist began vibrating. “Shitigottagobye!!” Jay took off down the street, backpack bouncing wildly on his shoulders. Twenty feet away, he spun around. “Text me!” He called, zipping around the building corner.

Kai rolled his eyes. “Library’s _inside_ the building, Bluejay.” Even though he was stuck doing his sisters chores, he suddenly felt strangely light on his feet. As Kai floated to the train station, he pulled out his phone.

_Jay_

_Thursday, 4:31 pm_

_good luck on ur test dude_

_thanks! ill let u know when im out :)_

Kai played with the idea of ducking behind an alley to check the schedule to see when Jay was _really_ getting out, but spotting the blue line pulling into the station, he opted to race down the rest of the block to catch it instead.

After half an hour of riding transit, five minutes of navigating the hospital layout, and fifteen minutes of waiting to be called, Kai finally stepped back outside, now with a white bag of prescription pills in hand.

 _Jay’s gotta be getting out soon._ Glancing wearily up and down the street, he ducked into the nearest empty alleyway a block away from the hospital. He walked down it a bit, and hid behind a dumpster to pull up his hologram screen. _Alright Jay, when does this ‘test retake’ really end?_

He just barely flipped to the schedule tab when he heard footsteps turning into his alley. Quickly, he dropped his screen and stepped out from behind the dumpster, coming face to face with a disheveled man in a torn brown jacket. Kai wrinkled his nose out of instinct. _Surprised I didn't smell him coming first._

“Hey.” They man greeted roughly, drawing up to his full height and stopping just a yard away from Kai. “What is that you got there?” He motioned to the white bag still in Kai’s hand.

He glanced down at it, cursing himself for not tucking it in his bag. “Nothing you'd want, trust me.” He replied in a steady voice, staring at the man.

He snorted - or coughed, Kai really couldn't tell from the way he shook himself. “Wanna bet?”

Kai didn't respond. He kept his confident gaze, never breaking eye contact.

“How about you share it a bit?” He suggested in a very non suggestive tone, lazily scratching at his uneven stubble.

“How about I don't?” Kai challenged. He just needed to step around the guy, and he could head back to the train, and he'd get back at just around the time that Jay would be clocking out -

Suddenly, the man was two steps closer, and holding a knife pointed at Kai’s face. “Or I could just take _all of it.”_ He sneered, revealing black rotten teeth.

Kai’s eyes widened in surprise. He glanced at the knife, and back at the man. “Really? You're doing this to _me?_ ”

His reaction seemed to throw the now-mugger off a bit. His bushy eyebrows furrowed, and his grip on his blade tightened. “Cut the talk back, kid, or your necks gonna get it.”

Kai raised his hands slowly, biting back a grin. _I mean, I guess it's better he pick me than some other person leaving the hospital._ “Ok, ok.” He placated the man, slowly setting Nya’s pill bag on the ground and stepping away. “Go ahead, all yours.”

The knife jerked harshly. “And your bag.”

Kai rolled his eyes. “Okay. Whatever you want, just don't hurt me.” He was sure he could have done a better job selling his tone, but the entire situation was too amusing to him. He slipped out of the one arm strap he had on, and offered it out.

The man grinned wickedly, and reached for it.

Kai suddenly glanced up to the rooftop, eyes widening and jaw dropping. “Holy shit, the Red Ninja!”

“What?” The mugger snapped his head up, eyes bulging. Quick as a flash, Kai dropped his bag, kicked the knife out of the man’s hand, and grabbed his head in his right hand and threw his temple against the dumpster as hard as he could, earning a loud clang that echoed down the alley. His eyes lolled back and he crumpled to the dirty floor, out completely cold. Kai waited a few moments to make sure he was completely unconscious before giving himself a quiet fist pump, jumping up and spinning in a small circle.

“Seriously, learn how to pick your targets, bub.” Kai snickered, kneeling down to open his backpack and fish out a zip tie from his utility belt. As he bound his hands together, he noticed a trickle of blood falling from the unconscious man's temple. Kai grimace slightly. “Well, you get what's comin to ya. And you just tried to mug a high schooler for _vagina_ pills, so. Probably deserved that.”

Kai sighed, slug his backpack over his shoulder again, and picked up Nya’s pills. “Guess I have to make the call this time.” He muttered to himself, pulling out his phone. He was perfectly fine when a stranger was holding a knife to his neck and threatening to kill him, but now he was getting anxiety over having to make a phone call? _Man, fuck my brain._

He dialled the three numbers, and held the phone to his ear, breathing in quick breaths to help accelerate his heart rate and sell his story.

“ _911, what's your emergency?”_

“I-uh-I'm outside of the Ninjago city hospital, and - fuck, this guy tried to steal my sisters pills? He cornered me in an alley, and -”

“ _Are you currently injured?_ ”

“No, no, but - he did have a knife, and - he threatened me, but - but the Red Ninja swooped down outta _nowhere_ and whooped his ass, but he flew away just as quickly.”

The operator didn't seem surprised by Kai's story. He wondered how common calls like his really were. “ _Alright, so the perpetrator is incapacitated and you are unharmed?”_

“Yes.”

“ _Is your sister with you?_ ”

“No, I’m alone.”

“ _Ok, please stay at the scene. A car is being sent to your location, you can give a full recount to the officer. Do you want to stay on the phone until they get there?”_

Kai made a face. Knowing the NPD, he’d _definitely_ be missing Jay now. “No, I'll be ok. Thank you.”

“ _Just remain calm. Police will be there shortly_.”

Kai rolled his eyes. “Ok. Thank you.” He hung up, huffing a breath. _Better text Jay to head straight home. I'll probably be here for the next thirty minutes now, with all this police questioning bullshit._

He had just opened their conversation when he caught a blur of blue out of the corner of his eye, and heard the familiar grunt of someone rolling to a stop after falling from a two story fall.

 _Oh no._ Kai turned, his stomach sinking and heart beginning to race as he caught sight of Jay in his full ninja gi quickly picking himself up and racing past the unconscious mugger towards Kai. _Fucking of course he'd have picked up on the police call. I knew that. Why did I do that? Why?_

“Hey! Are you ok?” Jay asked, eyes glistening with concern.

Kai’s mouth went dry. He still had the conversation with Jay open on his phone. He opened his jaw to say something, but shut it with a snap. _How would Kai react to seeing Blue? I should be shocked. Awkward._ He realized he didn't have to try that hard. “I-I-I’m fine.” He stuttered, jolting back into motion and fumbling with his phone as he rushed to put it away.

Jay reached forward and gently ran his hands down Kai’s arms, observing him for injuries, eyebrows creased tightly. Kai stiffend from the contact. He was used to interacting with Jay as Kai, and with Blue as Red - but Blue and Kai had a power difference between them that was extremely foreign to him. Jay nodded and stepped back, satisfied with his inspection. Kai’s muscles refused to loosen.

“Good, I'm glad you're safe.” He sighed. “What happened? How did you run into this guy? You said that _Red_ saved you?”

Kai could feel the blood drain from his face. “Uh. Yes?”

Jay hummed and stepped away to inspect the unconscious mugger still lying on the concrete. Blood roared through Kai’s ears and his heart thumped sporadically in his chest.

 _There's no way for him to tell that I knocked him out._ _He can't tell. He can't tell._ Kai chanted the mantra in his head like a prayer as Jay rolled him over with a foot and followed the drying blood trail falling from his temple.

Jay snorted. “Yeah, this was totally Red’s work. He's always a bit too rough. What the hell is he doing out here though?” Jay lifted his foot off of the muggers body and flicked open his holographic screen, quickly flipping through several tabs and rechecking the schedule. “He's not even patrolling today.” Even burning with embarrassment and throat tight, Kai had a flare of annoyance at Jay for opening his holo and talking about their system in front of a supposed civilian.

 _Right, I'm a civilian._ Kai reminded himself. _I don't know anything about this stuff. Act how Kai would react to all of this!_ “Is-is that a hologram?” He asked, pointing to Jay's screen and hoping the question didn't sound forced. God, his acting skills were really being put to the test around this boy.

Jay turned his wrist with the Borg watch, motioning to it with his other hand. “Oh, this?” He closed out of it and shrugged nonchalantly. “It's nothing. Just our normal tech. It's pretty much the same as the watch you're wearing, but ya know, I added a couple quirks. Helps with communication and hacking.”

 _I hope you don't say all of this to_ any _civilian._ Kai bit his tongue. The more Jay revealed, the more annoyed he got at him. “Woah, that’s-that’s crazy.” He carded a hand through his spiked hair, eyes darting between the wall and Jay’s masked face. _What the fuck do I say?_ “Sorry, I just - I wasn't expecting to meet a Ninja so up close. I've never run into one of you guys before.” He laughed awkwardly.

“Oh?” Jay asked innocently, toeing closer. “Are you a fan?” Kai nodded dumbly. “Do you have a favorite?”

All of his blood immediately rushed back into his face, and by the cruel glint in Jay’s eyes, he was certain that he noticed. Kai turned away abruptly, hand raising to hide his face with a hasty scratch. _Don't make me say it, Jay._ “Uh, n-no. None in particular.”

Jay hummed, and Kai could hear the confidence dripping from his voice. “Oh, that's too bad. You really strike me as a Blue guy.”

“Yeah?” Kai chuckled nervously, hand sliding up his face to grip his hair again. “What-what gave it away?”

Jay stepped smoothly around him, sliding back into Kai's line of sight. He only held Jay’s steady gaze for a second before he had to turn away again. “Wistful thinking, I suppose. But thank you for confirming it.”

“Shit.” Kai muttered. Jay laughed. When did his awkward motor-mouthed friend suddenly become so smooth? He had never seen Jay act like this, in costume or out of it. What was he doing? “Wh-why wistful thinking?”

Kai risked a glance at Jay when he didn't respond. Jay's eyes smiled warmly at him. “It’s nice when the cute ones like me back.”

Kai’s eyes widened. His mind crashed to a halt and he was left picking over the shattered remains. _Is he… flirting?_

Jay slowly meandered around the alleyway. “You know, you should put your prescriptions in your backpack. You'll get less attention for it.”

Kai's jaw moved, but he couldn't manage any words. _Why is Jay flirting with me? As_ Blue _?_

Following his silence, Jay turned back to face Kai, hands laced behind his back and eyes glowing softly. “I guess I owe it to Red for saving you, though, so I can't be too mad at him. I’d feel awful if you got hurt.”

“Uh-huh.” Kai choked out. He could feel pressure threatening to burst out of his quickly heating palms. _Don't light shit on fire, don't light shit on fire -_

Jay seemed to hesitate for a moment. Eyes darting between the rooftop, the unconscious villain, and Kai. “I should really go track down Red, but… do you want a selfie? Before I go?”

 _Oh. Right._ “Uh.” Kai took a moment to process what he was asking. “Oh! Right, yeah, uh - please.” He quickly fumbled with his pocket, pulling out his phone and shakily unlocking it. When he turned around, Jay was already at his side again, excitement sparkling in his eyes. _Can't help but wonder if this picture is more for me or for you, Jay._ Kai thought, flipping the camera around and holding it up. He hated how splotchy his face looked with his noticeable blush, so instead he focused on Jay’s crinkled eyes as he flashed a peace sign for the photo. Kai copied the pose, heart hammering in his chest as he grinned and snapped the photo the same time police sirens started fading in.

Kai quickly flipped back to the photo as he lowered the camera. Really, it didn't look that bad. “Wow,” he breathed.

“Man, the one time the police actually arrive in a timely manner.” Jay huffed, glaring in the distance at the growing siren noise.

“I- thank you. I really appreciate this.” Kai looked back up at Jay, smiling crookedly. Really, he knew that he could've gotten a picture with Blue as Red whenever the hell he wanted, but a picture of _Kai_ and Blue? He had no idea how much that meant to him until just now. And hell, it'll make an amazing story when he reveals himself to Jay.

_When?_

“It was a pleasure, Kai.” Jay gave a small bow, eyes betraying the smile hidden under his mask. “Stay safe, now. I'm sure you have people who would be upset if you were hurt.”

Kai chuckled. The police sirens turned down their street. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Jay waved, and bounced up the alley walls, pushing off of gutters and window sills, flipping flawlessly through the air several times more than Kai knew was really necessary.

 _Showoff._ Kai rolled his eyes, but as the police car pulled to a stop outside his alley, he realized he was more annoyed at himself for his stuttering heartbeat as he watched the Blue Ninja disappear over the building corner to fruitlessly chase down the very friend he was leaving behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;3ccccc check me out at @whiparoundandcry on tumblr!! ask me about my legos  
> finals chapter(s) may take a bit as I try to wrestle a coherent story out of it!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS FOR UR PATIENCE EVERYONE <333  
> this should be the second to last chapter!! thanks SO MUCH for stickin with me, I really dont think ive ever gotten this far in a fic before ;v; very excited to write the conclusion!!
> 
> lotta stuff that isnt super shippy this chapter, so sorry if youre mainly here for the red/blue gays! stick around till the end and I promise theres more to come <3 There's also more shorter scenes/scene jumps (+1 flashback) in this chapter, I hopes its not too confusing for anyone??
> 
> Akubis/[@the-golden-ninja](https://the-golden-ninja.tumblr.com/) continues to fix my spelling and clunky wording!! #blessed

**_17:36 - Blue:_ ** _hey red what the hell dude_

 **_17:36 - Blue:_ ** _if u wanted to patrol that badly you could’ve taken my shift, i woulve gladly given it up :/_

 **_17:36 - Black:_ ** _???_

 **_17:37 - Black:_ ** _what happened?? Whatd red do this time_

 **_17:37 - Blue:_ ** _he stopped some back alley mugging like five minutes ago. its my shift rn_

 **_17:37 - Black:_ ** _in uniform?_

 **_17:37 - Green:_ ** _Reds not even scheduled to patrol today_

 **_17:37 - Blue:_ ** _i know!!_

 **_17:39 - Blue:_ ** _RED ANSWER US WHERED U RUN OFF TO_

 **_17:55 - Blue:_ ** _ugh ok fine i cant find him_

 **_17:55 - Blue:_ ** _real mature red, running off to hide and ignoring our messages_

 **_17:56 - White:_ ** _Are you ok, Red?_

 **_18:00 - Red:_ ** _christ sorry blue I didn’t mean to ignore your messages_

 **_18:00 - Red:_ ** _I’m ok_

 **_18:00 - Blue:_ ** _what the hell were you doing??_

 **_18:01 - Black:_ ** _dude did you get in a fight_

 **_18:05 - Red:_ ** _no, sorry._

 **_18:05 - Red:_ ** _I just felt like going out today, didn’t mean to steal your thunder blue. I just happened to come across the mugging_

 **_18:05 - Red:_ ** _just been feeling restless lately_

 **_18:06 - Black:_ ** _is “thunder blue” a lightning pun_

 **_18:06 - Red:_ ** _literally fuck off black_

 **_18:06 - Black:_ ** _hfjkdahfkjdsa_

 **_18:07 - Blue:_ ** _i guess its alright, but let us know when you go out man_

 **_18:07 - Blue:_ ** _the schedule is sacred dude. Not 2 b tampered with_

 **_18:07 - White:_ ** _We’ve all been feeling restless since the Sons of Garmadon became quiet, but we can’t afford to act out alone._

 **_18:07 - Red:_ ** _yeah yeah sorry_

 **_18:07 - Red:_ ** _won’t happen again_

 **_18:07 - Black:_ ** _\+ the meeting is coming up in a few days_

 **_18:07 - White:_ ** _Precisely. There is plenty reason to be feeling stressful._

 **_18:08 - Green:_ ** _ugghghh dont remind me_

 **_18:10 - Blue:_ ** _the guy you saved was actually a friend of mine from school red, so i cant really be that mad_

 **_18:10 - Blue:_ ** _so thanks i guess_

 **_18:10 - Black:_ ** _o damn really???? shit man_

 **_18:10 - Gray:_ ** _Wait, red saved a friend of yours?_

 **_18:10 - Green:_ ** _guys, watch it w/ the personal info_

 **_18:11 - Blue:_ ** _yeah i know mom ://_

* * *

 Jay

_Thursday, 5:58 pm_

_hey dude im out of my test_

_r u back from the hospital yet?_

 

_no, I got held up. Dont think ill be able to meet up today, sorry_

 

_?? what happened?_

 

_Some guy threatened me with a knife after I got out. Im ok, just going through a lot of police questioning._

 

_DUDE WTF_

_what happened???????_

 

_Uh well, he wanted me to give him nya’s prescriptions. He was gonna attack me when i didn’t give them up but then the Red Ninja jumped down from the roof and knocked him out._

 

_is that it?_

 

_No uh_

_Then he left and the blue ninja showed up after i called the police_

 

_holy shit, you got to meet the blue ninja??_

_im so jealous dude wtf_

_was he cool?_

 

_Yeah totally_

_Super cool_

_I think he mightve been flirting with me???_

_really????_

_well lucky for you!!_

 

_How am i lucky i feel like dying_

 

_hes like your celebrity crush isnt he?_

_do you mean ‘feel like dying’ in a good way or a bad way?_

 

_………a good way_

* * *

 “Alright, I’m done stewing.” Kai dropped his phone on his chest as he heard Nya close her laptop and stomp over to their couch. Her head appeared over top of his as she rested her elbows on the back of the couch and glanced down at him. “You wanna head out early?”

Kai snorted in response and picked his phone back up. “Patience, Nya. We agreed to meet one hour ahead of time.”

“Oh, come on, don’t pretend like you’re not feeling antsy to go just because you’re still mad at me.” She snapped.

“I’m not still mad at you.” Kai replied, though he knew it wasn’t entirely true. “I’m just worried you’re gonna try to do something stupid again with Jay.”

He saw Nya glaring down at him as he pretended to be invested in something on his phone screen. “When have I ever done something stupid, Kai? Really, when?”

Kai gave up on his phone and quickly scooted himself up into a sitting position. “Oh goodie. Well,” He rubbed his hands together and pretended to think for a moment. “There was that time you threw together some dirty laundry and flea market samurai mask and tried to rush in on every major fight in the city for a couple months-”

“That was _you_ being stupid by not letting me meet with Wu.” She shot back.

“-Or, how about _after_ you met with Wu, and tried using your powers to wash the dishes and ended up breaking half of our plates and soaking the kitchen?”

“How was I supposed to know?” Nya defended herself. “I was still learning! I wasn’t being stupid, I was being _ignorant._ ”

“Okay then, what about-”

“You know what _is_ stupid?” Nya stormed ahead, not leaving Kai any time to keep talking. “Lying to one of your best friends for a _month_ and refusing to fess up to it.”

Kai had already been stretched thin from talking about Jay with Nya, so it didn’t take much for him to snap. _Again._ “Ok, fuck! Off!” Kai pushed himself off of the couch and spun around to face Nya. “I’m so done with you giving me shit about this! Mind your own business!” A part of him - a very _tired_ part of him - wondered why he even bothered. This argument always ended the same.

“It _is_ my business Kai!” Nya shot back, eyes sharp. “He’s as much my teammate as he is yours.”

Kai groaned and ran his hands down his face. “No, no. No. I’m done arguing about this with you.” Kai paced to their window and rested his elbows on the sill, glaring at the adjacent brick wall and steadying his breathing.

Nya sighed loudly behind him. “I’m not trying to be a dick about this, Kai.” She mumbled. “I’m just… Aren’t you tired?” Kai perked up and turned to glance at his sister. _This is different_ . Could she really see through him that easily? He gripped his arms close to his chest as she continued, staring at him imploringly. “Aren’t you tired of all the secrets between us? Wu, Green, and now you and Jay? Where did you run off to last week?” Kai broke eye contact and stared at his feet. “What about when Red saved one of Jay’s friends? What _actually_ happened then?”

Kai let the silence stretch between them for uncomfortably long. What could he even say? From his time with Jay, he had started to let himself think that he was halfway decent at keeping a secret or hiding his emotions. Obviously not around Nya, though. That was the same as it had always been.

“Let’s get changed,” He muttered, slowly peeling himself away from the window sill. “It’ll be close enough to the meet up time when we get there.”

Nya didn’t move or speak as Kai made his way to his room. He refused to look at her.

When his door clicked shut behind him, he let himself collapse against it softly. He _hated_ how tense things had gotten between himself and Nya - and he knew, of course, as with _every_ argument with his sister, the only way it could possibly end was for Nya to prove herself right.

But in this case, he didn’t know _how_ she could possibly win without Kai ruining his relationship with Jay for good.

Kai sighed and pushed himself off of his door. His eyes wandered to the Blue figure sitting atop his dresser as he pulled his gi out of the top drawer. _I don’t want this to be all I have left of Jay when this is all over._ He’d never admit it out loud - and it pained him to even admit it to himself - but Nya was right about at least one thing. _Something’s going to break soon._

* * *

  _Chen’s closes at eight._ Kai thought to himself, mentally sorting through his plan for the upteenth time as he stomped his way up the apartment building stairs. _I need to find a way to corner her and get her to confess and swear secrecy. We can’t keep a loose canon like her around if she knows too much information -_ He shoved through the door leading to his floor, and paced down the hallway to his room number. He imagined his voice as more gravely and intimidating than he could probably make it in real life. _Skylor, you know why I’m here. You’ve proven yourself a valuable ally in the past, but if you leak any of our personal information, I won’t hesitate to -_

Kai swung open his apartment door and locked eyes with Nya sitting on the couch, her computer sitting in her lap. His swirling thoughts about Skylor immediately vanished as he sharply remembered the last time he saw her - when she introduced herself to Jay several hours ago.

Her face broke into a shit eating grin, but Kai quickly spoke over whatever she was about to say. “ _Nya, what the fuck._ ”

She blinked, eyes widening as if she was actually surprised by the ferocity in Kai’s voice. “What?” She asked defensively.

Kai let the door swing shut behind him as his temper flared. “Don’t pretend like you don't know exactly what the hell you did. Why did you interact with Blue?”

“Don't you mean _Jay?_ ” Nya taunted, sliding her laptop to an adjacent cushion. Kai seethed, any remaining glow of happiness left over from his meal with Jay forgotten as his sister went on. “Maybe I got tired of you holding him all to yourself. Maybe I got curious.”

“He's not a fucking attraction, Nya!” Kai shouted. He was almost shocked at his own sudden anger, but he felt completely justified. “You intruded on his personal life without his permission, and you endangered _both_ of our identities!”

“Are you kidding?” Nya stood up, eyebrows narrowing. “You're mad at _me_ for this situation? How am I doing anything different than what you've been doing?”

Kai growled deeply, hands balling into fists at his side. “I found out Blue’s identity on _accident._ You did it on _purpose-_ ”

“And you've _purposefully_ been hanging out with him and keeping your own identity a secret!” Kai started to respond, but Nya spoke over him. “No, you want to know why I introduced myself to Jay? I want to know why you _haven't_ introduced yourself to him.”

Kai reeled from the accusation, but gritted his teeth. “What the hell, you _know_ why-”

“I don't, Kai! I really don't!” Nya interrupted again and threw her hands into the air. “It’s been almost a month! I had some inhibitions at first, sure, but it's been going on like this for too long. Something needs to break.”

Kai paced forward, fuming. “Okay, what’s ' _like this_ ’ mean? I've been holding up with him just fine, and you jumping in like that could have ruined everything _._ ”

“How would it have gotten ruined?” Nya shot back, matching Kai’s pace forward to square up against her brother. “Because Jay could’ve recognized me? Because he could've recognized _you_?”

“Yes!” Kai threw his hands into the air. “Yes, that’s exactly how it could have been ruined.”

“I _trust_ Blue with my identity.” Nya stated, drawing her sentence out and glaring challengingly at Kai. “I’d thought that you'd feel the same by now.”

Kai’s thoughts cut out for a split second. He stuttered out a few failed starts, frustration with Nya and with himself mounting with each second. “I-I can't-I do! Of course I do.” He broke eye contact, turning to pace away from Nya. “But I-I _can't_ tell him, Nya. It’s too dangerous. And even if I wanted to, it’s not _your_ fucking place to tell him for me!” he stopped pacing, and shot Nya a deadly glare. “I never told him about having a sister because _you_ didn’t want me to out you, the least you could do it to give me the same goddamn decency!”

Ny’s face was starting to turn red. Her fists clenched tightly at her sides, matching Kai’s. “You’re just scared that he’ll hate you when he finds out that you’ve been _lying_ to him this whole time-”

Kai shoved past her. “I'm leaving.” He growled, striding to his bedroom door.

Nya scoffed loudly. “Kai, what-” He slammed his door shut on Nya’s words, not caring if it was childish. He changed quickly into his gi, and strode back out into their living room within the minute.

Nya had moved to the kitchen island, and her eyes widened at the sign of Kai. “What the hell are you doing in that?” She asked sharply.

Kai glared at her and pulled up his mask stiffly. “I told you, _I’m leaving._ I'll be back in a few hours.” He unlatched the window.

“Where the hell are you going?” Nya rushed to his side, but he was already halfway out the window. “You can’t just-”

“Don't wait up.” He growled, and pushed himself forcefully out the window, flying to the adjacent fire escape.

“K- _Red!_ ” Nya shouted after him. Kai quickly climbed up the building, and began racing over the rooftops to reach Chen’s Noodle House.

His burning anger at Nya diminished a lot slower than it had ignited as he flew over alleyways and pulled himself over building corners. His mind tied knots around itself as he replayed the argument over and over in his mind, poking holes into her argument and building up his own. Nya was _completely_ out of line, expecting Kai to unmask himself for Jay - and if Wu ever found out about her sudden _lack in inhibitions_ , then she’d be off the team before she had the chance to say her name.

Kai’s relationship with Jay was… complicated. _No,_ He corrected himself, furiously chewing his bottom lip as he hurtled over a twelve story drop. _Kai and Jay are school friends. Red and Blue are work friends. That’s all there is to it._ It all felt so simple when he was in the moment - hanging out with Jay was the easiest thing in the world, and it only got complicated when he thought about it, or about why Nya threw herself into the situation. _Kai and Jay get Boba, walk around town, and eat at Chen’s Noodles._ His chest ached unexpectedly at the thoughtmemory, and he refocused his mind on the destination he was starting to close in on.

 _I don't even know who’s patrolling right now._ In his rush to leave, he hadn't even bothered to check.

 _That’s okay, I'm only going to Chen’s to talk to Skylor._ He reminded himself of his mission. _If she knows my identity - and possibly Jay’s and Nya’s too - I have to make her promise to keep them secret._

Kai’s shoes dug in roughly into the gravel on the roof as he propelled himself over the edge, free falling for several exhilarating moments before he touched down on the next roof and continued his sprint. _Because that's what our secret identities are meant to be._

_Secret._

* * *

 Kai continued to mull over the week old argument as he and Nya pulled their bikes to a stop next to the Destiny’s Bounty. The thought of revealing his identity to Jay felt like being struck by lighting - which is probably what would happen if he _did_ tell his friend about how he'd been tricking him for the past several weeks. Month? _God,_ where did the time go.

He continued to grapple with his thoughts as he and Nya stepped into the warehouse about ten minutes before their scheduled time. Judging by the presence of Black, though, they weren't the only ones who were feeling nervous.

“Yo.” Black flashed them a peace sign as they made their way over to him, sitting on the couch by the TV. Wu was in his usual spot pooring over his computer screens and mountains of paper. Green was standing beside him - also a usual spot for him nowadays, Kai figured. Green’s gaze followed them as they entered. When he caught Kai’s eye, he raised a hand in a small wave. Kai returned it halfheartedly. Wu slapped Green’s hand down, and harshly pointed at something on his computer screen. Green's shoulders sagged as he turned to closely inspect it.

“Big day today. You guys ready?” Black asked as they neared him.

Nya flopped down on the couch next to Black. “Man, you tell me.” She mumbled. Black hummed in agreement.

Kai settled down on a beanbag. He spotted their whiteboard on his side- someone had marked four perfectly straight and parallel marks under White’s name. Kai cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

“Yeah, I noticed the board too.”  Black’s voice surprised him. He glanced back at his teammate, seeing him staring wistfully down at the whiteboard. “I looked it up. There’s pictures of him fighting four people trying to rob a liquor store downtown from a couple days ago.”

“Huh.” Kai’s eyes trailed back to the perfectly drawn tally marks. “I didn't hear anything about it.”

“It wasn't anything super big.” Black continued. “Nothing to do with the SOG or anything. But man, I'm super jealous. It's been such a slow goddamn month. Even you got some action by saving Blue’s friend, right?”

Kai tried to keep himself from wincing and just barely succeeded. “Right.” He said, shifting to glance at Black. “I shouldn't have even been there, though. It was Blue’s shift. And there wasn't any picture taking.” _Except that there was,_ Kai mentally noted, remembering his new phone background. _I wonder if that would count as a point for me or for Jay._

He felt ashamed for thinking of Jay by his name and not his color. Nya remained silent, but Kai could see her watch the conversation with sharp eyes. Black shrugged, and silence settled over them, leaving each Ninja to quietly twitch and wait.

* * *

 “You guys know I don't like playing the leader role, right?”

Kai immediately heard Wu click his tongue in disappointment behind the group. He blinked in surprise. Ever since he knew him, Green has always been a pretty laid back leader, only ever losing his temper and trying to assert his dominance once or twice. Kai always figured that Green had felt uncomfortable taking the role as leader so young and so suddenly, but hearing him confirm it so blatantly still came as a shock.

Glancing at the eyes of the rest of their team, the others seemed to have about the same reaction. White nodded, and Black gave a small half shrug.

“I mean, who could blame you, having to deal with us all the time.” Jay quipped, eyes wrinkling in a half formed smile.

Green's shoulders loosened and his eyes smiled warmly at Jay even as he waved him off. “No, that's not it. I mean, not all of it. But, I mean. We're a team, and I don't think I'm smarter or stronger than any of you. We're at our smartest and strongest when working together. But,” he added, with a quick glance at Wu. “Today's fight is different than what we're used to doing. We can’t tag team this one. We need to appear as one unified force when we show up at City Hall.”

“Don't let them know we're a bunch of teens in colorful uniforms, got it.” Black said, legs crossed as he leaned against the back of the couch.

“Don't let them know _anything._ ” Green emphasised. He hesitated for a moment before visibly steeling himself. “In fact, the best course of action would be to only have one of us speak at all.”

* * *

Kai peered over Green’s shoulder, taking in the large crowd surrounding the City Hall entrance several stories below them. His throat went dry as he fully realized the magnitude of the situation.

 _Wow._ He knew that they were popular - they had their own fifteen minute spotlight on the news channel, the high schoolers in his classes chatted about them often enough, and as of at least a month ago, there were action figures of them - but none of that could’ve prepared him for the _hundreds_ of people lining the street. Police officers and barricades were set up around the entrance of the building, keeping the crowds at good distance. Several large news cars were parked along the street, large satellite disks raised, and reporters standing with a mic in hand and camera in their face. Some people had their phones out, filming the building entrance or scanning the surrounding rooftops. _Parents_ were there with their _children_.

Black let out a low whistle. Green motioned for the group to step back, and they inched away slowly. Once clear, their young leader scrunched his eyes together and rubbed the bridge of his nose, groaning. “Well, front door’s out.” He grumbled.

“Why? They already know we’re coming, what’s wrong with posing for the camera’s a bit?” Jay asked.

Kai reasoned that it was a fair question, but his stomach felt hollow at the idea, and couldn’t help but feel relieved when Green shot it down. “No, we’re here to talk to the mayor. Not to get more media attention. We’ll find another way.”

From there, they circled around the building from the surrounding rooftops until they found a more discreet entrance. One by one, they jumped down to a part of the building with a glass roof and propped open a panel, slipping inside without a word. Kai entered last, landing in a wide empty hallway. Immediately, he felt starkly displaced.

White marble floors blurrily reflected the bright red of Kai’s gi back to him. Double doors taller than his bedroom ceiling lined the walls, two on each side of the hall. Kai thought that they might lead to courtroom or something, but he had literally no idea. _Are there even courtrooms in City Hall? What do they do here?_ The realization of just how far he was out of his depth hit him like a brick.

Echoing footsteps threw him back into the moment. Instinctually, Kai quickly slid back behind a large pillar against the wall. His heel landed on something hard, and he glanced back. White blinked at him, and slid back wordlessly to give him more room. Kai grimaced and raised a hand to apologize.

The clicking footsteps grew louder. Kai glanced quickly around him, briefly wondering where the rest of the team was. The hallway offered little for cover, mostly lined with benches and paintings. Kai and White leaned in close to their pillar, and carefully shuffled around it as far as they could as the figure marched past. With his back to the ninjas, Kai finally caught a glance of who the footsteps belonged to. A man wearing a black suit with short, curly hair and dark skin hunkered over his phone, shoulders tight and quietly muttering to himself. Kai let out a short breath of relief - he was so absorbed in whatever business was on his phone, there was no way he would notice the Ninjas.

That is, until Green dropped down from some unseen height, landing in the center of the hall behind the man. He didn’t land loudly, but his shoes slapped the tiles enough for it to quietly echo down the hall. Kai’s eyes widened, but the tux man continued forward, none the wiser.

Green straightened up slowly, and awkwardly cleared his throat. _That_ got the man’s attention, and he froze mid sept for several excruciating seconds before pivoting around to face Green.

His eyes bulged from his skull, and his eyebrows threatened to fly off of his forehead. Kai would have laughed at the expression if he wasn’t so nervous. Green must have felt the same, because he cleared his throat again before talking. “Can you take us to where we’re supposed to hold conference with the Mayor?” To his credit, his voice was steady. The hallway echoed his words back to him.

 _Right_ . Kai thought. _We’re here to talk. We don’t need to hide_. Despite the realization, his legs stayed firmly planted where he was in the shadows.

The suite man stuttered. “Y-You-You’re the Green Ninja.”

Green’s hands tightened at his sides. “Yes.”

“And-you’re here. For the Mayor. And his-the conference, right. Um.” The man blinked quickly, and his body seemed to jolt back all at once, his feet scuffing the floor and a hand raising to rub up his face and into his hair. “Right. Yes. You-wait, you said _us?_ ”

Green glanced over his shoulder, eyes ghosting over Kai’s and White’s hiding place and through the rest of the room. “Yes.”

Kai felt White move beside him, and he took that as their cue to step out. The man’s eyes caught on them stepping out from the pillar and his face paled. Kai heard shuffling behind him, and saw the man’s eyes dart further around, and his jaw hung open slightly. Kai resisted the urge to look back at his friends, and instead stepped silently forward with White at his side, the two of them stopping behind Green. A moment later, Nya, Jay, and Black joined them.

The man’s jaw clicked shut, and his adam's apple bobbed at he swallowed. “Oh. Right.” The silence stretched again for a few seconds. He blinked. “Right! To the-the conference room. This way.” His body jolted into action, and he spun around on his heel, continuing in the direction he was going - albeit at a much more strained pace, and he quickly cast a wide eyed glance behind his shoulder.

Kai bit back a sigh. Green nodded. “Thank you.” As their leader moved to follow, the rest of the team trailed behind. Even as they all moved, the suited man was the only one to continue the echoing footsteps. He continued to periodically glance over his shoulder, clearly unnerved and expecting them to vanish at any moment.

Part of Kai wanted to reassure him that they weren't going to run, or to strike up a friendly conversation to put him at ease - but the other part of him was almost grateful to Green for giving him an out to _not_ do that. Back at the Bounty, Green’s solo-speaking rule had been met with well earned skepticism, but it didn’t seem to be doing any harm just yet.

Of course, they hadn’t even entered the room yet.

After a couple turns, they finally landed at their destination, their guide slowing to a stop by large double doors similar to the ones from the first hallway, but framed by large flags draping down from the wall at an angle.

Suite man spun around to face them, and clasped his hands together. “Uh, here. The mayor is still outside, waiting by the entrance, but-you. Uh. Must have missed him.” He nodded to himself. “I’ll grab him for you. You can, uh, wait inside. Yeah.” Green nodded wordlessly, and walked closer to the doors, the team close behind him. The man spun around and paced about three steps before stopping again. Green stilled with his hand reaching to the door handle. All of the ninjas focused on the man’s back as he visibly steeled himself. “And, uhm-Thank you.” He continued speed walking away stiffly, never once facing the team.

Green stood still until the man disappeared around a corner. Then, their leader took in a shuddering breath, and slowly exhaled. Without a word, he pushed into the room, and Kai followed.

The quiet muttering in the meeting room stopped abruptly when the ninjas entered, and as they all filed in, the room lay dead silent. Less than half a dozen people sat grouped together on the left side of a long table made to fit over two dozen. The other half of the table was notably empty. At the far end of the room, two large arching windows covered the back wall, giving view to a city garden growing beside the building. Kai distracted himself from the oppressive and heavily awkward silence by quickly categorizing every possible escape from the room.

The woman sitting at the corner chair closest to the ninja shifted in her seat, and stared pointedly at Kai and Jay. Kai tried not to shift under her stare, but he could feel Jay stiffen next to him. “You two saved Satoshi the night King’s was attacked, right?”

Kai’s mouth was immediately dry and his brain cut out. Her voice wasn’t loud, but compared to the silence before, she might as well have fired a gun. The question itself was straightforward enough, but Kai hesitated to answer - first, because Green ordered them not to speak, and second, he had _no idea what she was talking about_.

He cast a side eye glance to Jay to see if he had any better luck. From what he could gather, the Blue Ninja was doing a good job of keeping his expression ironed out, but Kai could easily see past it and into the panic and confusion flashing through his eyes.

Kai let his eyes trail down the line to Green, wondering if he was allowed to even answer a direct question. The leaders face gave away nothing, and he stared passively back. Kai decided saying something - _anything, anything to avoid the awkwardness of leaving the question hanging in the air and resuming the silence -_ was worth any reprimand he’d receive.

“Uh-” He almost winced at his own voice. _Smooth. First communication with the city officials going perfectly to plan._

“Saito.” The woman clarified, as if that name would mean anything more to Kai than the first. “Mr. Saito, the mayor. He’s my husband. Thank you for rescuing him.”

 _Ah,_ Kai thought. _King’s must be the Ninjago King’s apartments. Right._ “You’re welcome.” He said, and wondrously, his voice didn’t crack. Jay took the safer route and simply nodded.

The woman - Mrs. Saito, Kai assumed, turned down the line to White, Black, and Green. “You three came to my house and saved me and my daughter.” She narrowed in on Green. “You also saved Harumi last month from a gunman. Thank you as well.”

Kai couldn’t help but cast another glance down to Green. _He’s done more than just save Harumi those couple times._ His mind provided. _He’s kept her company as well._

Green didn’t let any emotion show as he gave a short bow. “It’s an honour.”

Mrs. Saito blinked, but stayed otherwise as equally stone faced as the ninja. “Well, we should get introductions out of the way. I’m Mrs. Saito, deputy mayor.” Her hand waved out to the next woman down from her seat. “This is the city manager, Mrs. Kobayashi. The finance director, Mr…”

Kai’s ears started ringing as Mrs. Saito continued down the row of seats, giving names that Kai immediately forgot and listing out jobs that Kai didn’t even know existed. He continued to keep his expression carefully flat while he prayed that he wouldn’t be quizzed later.

“... and our police commissioner Mr. Donovan.” The man farthest from the ninja, sitting about halfway down the table, stood out the most to Kai aside from Mrs. Saito. He sported a large silver moustache that covered his mouth, but thick wrinkles that either suggested a deep frown, or were the result of years and years of deep frowning. Kai couldn’t tell. His eye twitched, and Kai quickly looked away.

Mrs. Saito nodded after a few seconds of silence. “Someone should go fetch Satoshi. He insisted on waiting for you all by the entrance, but you obviously came in some other way.”

The doors swung open before she was done speaking. It wasn’t enough to make Kai jump, but it obviously startled everyone in the room.

“I’m sorry! I hope you didn’t start without me.” The Mayor - Satoshi - smiled apologetically as he entered. Kai distantly wondered how he could have had so many encounters with someone - an important political figure, no less - and only now be putting a name to his face.

“Just introductions.” Mrs. Saito replied.

Satoshi moved forward to Green, and reached out a hand. Their leader only hesitated a moment before extending his own. The mayor moved down the line of ninja, firmly exchanging handshakes and greetings with each. Kai was last in line, farthest from Green, but Satoshi’s grip was still solid and his eyes sparked as he gazed at Kai.

He let go and stepped to the head of the table. “Please, take a seat.” He urged, motioning to the empty right half. The ninja’s eyes all focused on Green. The boy stood still for a split second, obviously deliberating, before taking up the mayor’s offer and moving coolly to the chairs. Kai followed behind the rest, and settled down across from the frowning police commissioner whose name he already couldn’t hope to recall.

Satoshi took the empty seat next to his wife - next to his deputy, Kai reminded himself, the information finally clicking together for him. Was that weird? Wouldn’t that be like, the president being married to the vice president?

Satoshi settled down quickly and clasped his hands together on the table, for all intents and purposes looking as excited as a child with bright ninja-shaped candy laid out before him. “So you’ve been introduced to all of us, yes? What about all of you? Are there names you would like us to call you by?”

 _Shit, right to the point_. Kai’s muscles flexed involuntarily. He noticed the rest of the team shift uncomfortably.

“Calling us by our colors is fine.” Green replied coolly.

Satoshi’s face was obviously crestfallen, but he nodded. “Right, ok. Well, you’ve by no doubt noticed the short amount of officials here to hold conference, I’m sure.” He continued on.

Kai had no idea how many city officials was the standard amount, so he really hadn’t noticed that the six seated across from them was a _short amount_ . “I took care to make sure that this meeting wouldn’t over crowd you all, because we all want you to feel completely at ease. Hopefully we can come out today with _permanent_ seats for you all at this table.”

 _Permanent seats?_ Kai shifted in his chair. He was already feeling hopelessly lost from the second he had landed in the building. No way was he going to stay longer or come back any more times than he possibly had to.

“We also shortened our discussion, since we have no idea of the time constraints you all are under.” Mrs. Saito added, resting her hand on the table. “We are simply here to extend a hand in hopes of a future of cooperation, and show what rewards we have to offer.”

“We are here to listen.” Green replied. Kai glanced up his side of the table, and once again was hit with a strong wave of _displacement_. Their bright ninja gi clashed harshly with the formal attire sitting across from them. Green was sitting with his back straight, as was everyone else on their team - but Kai caught them also casting small glances around the room, and saw Jay’s leg lightly bouncing next to him. Everyone was feeling antsy.

The mayor, however, couldn’t look happier. “Excellent!” he beamed. “I have such high hopes for our future. Let’s get to it!” He splayed his hands out on the table, glancing down his row.

A woman part way down whose name and ranking Kai again couldn’t dream of remembering cleared her throat and began speaking. “So, the best way to incorporate vigilantism into the system would be to employ you all as workers for the city government. In some sense, it’d be like a second branch of law enforcement, and of course, you’d be eligible for all of the benefits of a county employee as well.” She paused for a moment, eyes scanning over the ninja hesitantly. “This would include income, prepaid health care, and union rights - you, ah…” She hesitated. Her finger tapped the table top absently. “You are all eighteen or above, correct?”

The question caused her half of the table to stirr, exchanging glances and muttering quietly between themselves.

“We can’t answer that.” Green said. Kai wondered if his voice was deeper because he was trying to disguise it, or if he was trying to make himself sound older.

Either way, his answer was more true than the officials probably realized. By himself, Green _couldn’t_ answer the question. Green didn’t know their ages. Kai was probably the most suitable to answer that question - he knew both his own and Nya’s ages, as well as Jay’s. _Do I know Jay’s?_ Kai paused for a moment. Maybe he hadn’t ever asked directly. But Jay was in the same grade as him, so he was probably eighteen as well. If he had to guess, Black was probably the oldest. White was a nindroid, so Kai didn’t know where to begin on figuring out his age. And Green…

Kai didn’t like thinking about Green’s age. He hated thinking about the child that was behind the green mask.

That meant at least two of their members were under eighteen. Not that it really mattered.

The woman pursed her lips, obviously not satisfied with Green’s answer. “We understand your caution and wish for privacy, but in this setting, _legally_ , we require complete transparency.”

Kai’s shoulders went taunt. _Transparency?_ Was this a trap after all? Were they going to try to unmask them?

The others must have reacted in a similar way, because the mayor quickly stood up and raised his hands in a placating manner, his chair sliding across the smooth floor as he pushed it back. “Please, Ninja, don’t dismiss us just yet. We want to work _together_ with you.”  
“From that explanation, it seems like you want us to work _for_ you.” Green accused. Kai was shocked at his forwardness, and next to him, Jay visibly reeled back. It seemed like this would be a short conference after all.

Satoshi’s eyes shone with hurt, but he slowly sat back down in his chair and continued. “I assure you, that’s not at all what this is. We are all employees of the city, and we all work together to give Ninjago the best quality of life possible. No one here works for the other.” The police commissioner shared the faintest of glances with the woman who had spoken earlier.

 _Is that so,_ Kai thought.

“This arrangement cannot be fully one sided, however.” The deputy mayor spoke up. “For us to give resources to helping you, you have to give up some of your rights to us. That’s how government works. We’re under the assumption that you’re all citizens of Ninjago already, so you already practice this give and take in your day to day lives. Public services like the transit system, or… education. In return for partaking in these systems we hold, you follow the laws we put in place and pay fees and taxes to the city. Or, your families do.” Her explanation sounded stilted. Kai understood most of what she said, for once, but clarity came with the ability to see the fault in her logic.

 _We don’t follow the laws._ Kai’s lips thinned, and he was glad they couldn’t see his lower face.

“This is just an extension of the system that you already follow.” Satoshi picked up, smile back in place. “We want to reward you for your work, and to do that, all we need is an identity to tie a mailing address to.”

Kai’s heart sank. _That’s that then._

“No.” Green’s answer came quick. “We cannot give up our identities.”

The suited side of the table shuffled again, and Kai heard a quite _‘I told you’_ exchanged, but he couldn’t tell exactly which black tie had said it. Satoshi actually looked surprised. “Wh-but, wouldn’t you want to?” He asked, painfully oblivious. “You see how popular you all are already, wouldn’t you want to capitalize on that fame? Be recognized for your heroics?”  
“We don’t need media attention,” Green replied. Kai risked another glance up the table. Green’s knuckles were gripping the arms of his chair tightly.

“Okay, that’s understandable. Your main concern is with your work, and that’s admirable,” Satoshi backtracked, obviously trying to salvage this meeting. “Our main concern is with work as well. And if we work _together_ , we could accomplish incredible things!” He grinned and clapped his hands together. “You’ve obviously been able to reach crime scenes far faster than our officers have, but we have more resources to track ongoing cases, like the Sons of Garmadon.”

 _That_ caught Kai’s attention. The others must have let their interest show as well, because the mayor’s smile only grew bigger as he continued. “We’ve made several arrests of their members, and they’ve revealed pertinent information relating to their motives and leadership. Michael, would you please share some of what you know with the Ninja?”

The bushy-moustached frowning police commissioner spluttered immediately. “Sir, I cannot share information on our top case with these… _vigilantes._ ” His piercing gaze met each of the ninja’s individually, and his eye started twitching again.

Satoshi scoffed, unphased. “Please, these are our friends and future coworkers. They’ve helped you and your department countless times. This information is shared as an example of our legitimacy in the hope of a future where we spend less time fighting each other, and more time fighting the real bad guys.” He addressed the last part of his speech to the Ninja, but the police commissioner looked as unconvinced as Kai felt - perhaps even more so.

“I… I understand that, but _sir…_ ” Satoshi's eyes met the police commissioner’s over the table for several seconds. Eventually, the long silver moustache shook as the man puffed out a sigh, and he slumped in defeat. “Alright then,” he grumbled, leaning forward heavily to clasp his hands together. “The Sons of Garmadon have only made two large public appearances, and both were done to steal two culturally significant masks - the oni masks. Somehow, you all knew enough to go directly to Mr. Saito’s house the night he moved the mask there, so you must know some of this already.” The police commissioner’s voice was slow and cautious, and his eyes kept jumping between the ninja, gaze wholly unfriendly. “We’ve also discovered that there may be a _third_ mask as well - however, any information on this is shady at best, and outside sources speak to it being either lost to time, or… some sort of metaphor.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head, momentarily forgetting to glare at the ninja. Kai rubbed his thumb slowly against the hem of his gi under the table. _Did we know that already?_

The police commissioner’s eyes reopened, and he curled his hands into fists on the table before continuing. “Members are indoctrinated through online sources, and they don’t seem to have one clear base of operations. Their leadership seems to be made up of a lone figure called _The Quiet One._ ”

_We definitely didn’t know that._

“We already knew that.” Kai tried not to jerk in his seat, but there was no way to keep his eyes from widening and quickly glancing at Green. All of the other ninja seemed to do the same.

 _Did we know that? Is he bluffing?_ He sat in confusion for several moments before his stomach sank. _Did_ Green _know that and not tell us?_

The police commissioner snorted, his moustache puffing out again. “Well then, you seem to be getting along just fine.”

“We have more to share!” Satoshi quickly broke in again, panic edging his voice. “If your information matches ours, that just means that we have all the more reason to work together! And we can still offer you all the benefits of being a county employee.”

There was a stretch of silence. Kai’s head was spinning, and his stomach felt sick. He had a feeling everyone in the room - the mayor included - already knew how this meeting would end. Green broke the silence, voice quiet. “But you need us to reveal our identities.”

Satoshi didn’t answer immediately, his face strained. “I-I understand your reluctance. Believe me, I grew up with the Light Ninja and the Dark Ninja - I would sit in front of my television box every morning and pore over the reports of the First Spinjitzu Master saving lives and beating crime.” He wrung his hands together as he continued, staring imploringly at Green. “Garmadon’s betrayal and revelation of Wu’s identity was… unfortunate.”

“It destroyed his life,” Green all but growled. “The Light Ninja lost his power to hold a private life, and he was hunted by the police.”

“Wrongly,” Satoshi added quickly, his voice tight. “He was wrongly hunted down, and his treatment was wholly unjust for all the good he had done for the city during the Serpentine Wars. I agree completely. And,” He continued, laying his fingertip gingerly on the table. “I wish to avoid a repeat of history.”

Green was already shaking his head. “I’m sorry, our identities are ours alone. We will not give them up.”

Jay slowly straightened up next to Kai. Kai glanced at him curiously, and was shocked by the tightness of his eyebrows and the discourse swimming through his blue eyes. What was he thinking, Kai wondered? He couldn’t disagree that harshly with what Green was saying, could he?

Kai was worried for a split second that Jay would speak up, but Satoshi beat him to it, continuing on in his slightly panicked voice. “We-we could try to arrange something so your identities aren’t open to the general public, only to those who need to know.”

A woman who hadn’t spoken yet cast the mayor a sharp glance. “Mr. Saito, that’s not-”

“I know!” He interrupted, palms flat on the table. “But, we can figure something out. I’m sure we can.”

Green let out a slow sigh. Kai glanced up, and saw his shoulders droop slightly. “No, I don’t believe we can.”

Satoshi’s eyes widened. “Please,” he all but begged. “Don’t dismiss this so quickly.”

Green stood up, slowly pushing away his chair. “I’m sorry.”

Kai hesitantly stood up as well, each ninja following suit. Jay was the last to rise, his gaze downward and his movements stiff.

Mrs. Saito echoed Green’s sigh and stood up as well, leaving her seat to step over to the ninja. “We are sorry to see you go. Currently there is no work-around for this issue, but we will keep working for a future together. If any of you ever reconsider, please contact us and we can reconvene at your convenience. Thank you, Green.” The deputy mayor held out her hand, and Green took it, shaking firmly.

“That’s it then,” The police commissioner grumbled, playing with the end of his moustache. “What a waste of time.”

“No,” Satoshi finally spoke up again, looking slightly up to avoid eye contact with anyone. “Not a waste. I’m glad we had the opportunity to speak with you like this, Ninja.” His gaze finally lowered, landing on Green again. “I hope to see you like this again.”

Green didn’t respond. He cast a glance over his shoulder at his team, and gave a small nod. “Let’s go.”

As they trailed out of the room, Kai resisted the urge to look back.

* * *

 On the top of a building about a block away from City Hall, Jay was the first to break the silence.

“Well that was shit.”

Kai slowed his jog to a halt, turning to see the Blue Ninja standing with his eyes lowered. He heard the others also slow and still.

Somewhere behind him, Black huffed. “Yeah, but about as well as expected.”

No one responded. Jay kept his gaze pointed at his shoes, and Kai’s chest ached to see him so despondent. Without even feeling his feel move, he walked over to Jay and gently clasped a hand over his shoulder. “C’mon dude.” He murmured, pulling him forward. “We tried our best.” He lead Jay further onto the roof. When he glanced up at the rest of the team, he remembered where he was and _who_ he was at that moment. He quickly withdrew his hand from Jay’s shoulder just as the other boy bitterly replied. “ _Did_ we though?”

Kai’s brain was muddled with confusion - which just seemed to be the mood of the day, really. Nya, however, hummed in agreement. “I feel like we left way too early. We could’ve learned more if we stayed longer.”

White nodded. “We did come out wiser, however. We now know about the Quiet One, and the possibility that a third oni mask may have simply been a red herring.”

Kai couldn’t help his eyes drifting over to Green, who stood the farthest away from the ragged semi circle the ninja had formed. Their leader’s eyes were trained to the ground, and he didn’t seem to be listening to their conversation at all. Kai knew better, though.

“So that _was_ new info then?” Black asked, gaze also shifting over to Green. “I was worried that I just forgot it when Green said we already knew.”

“That _was_ a bluff, right Green?” Nya asked, more accusatory than Kai would have liked.

Kai willed Green to answer, to confirm to them that it was a bluff. He remained silent, but it answered the question nonetheless.

“Dude,” Black murmured, his voice betraying their shared hurt. “Really?”

Green’s shoulders drew up tightly, but he still refused to raise his gaze. “I-” he cut himself off with a strangled noise. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to-”

“You’re _still_ keeping shit from us. You and Wu.” Nya said. It’s wasn’t a question, and her voice rose incredulously. She brought her hand to her face, and rubbed her brow with the ball of her palm. “Honestly, I don’t know why I’m surprised at this point.”

Kai felt like he was teetering on the edge of the building they were standing on, steadily slipping off. Black and Nya were both avoiding eye contact with Green - Nya by rubbing her face, and Black by glaring at the floor. White stared wide eyed at their leader, LED’s in his pupils glowing just slightly brighter than usual, and flickering unsteadily.

Jay took a sudden step forward, surprising all the ninja into refocusing their attention on him. His fists shook at his sides, and he glared mercilessly at Green. “Why are we even here then?” His voice wasn’t a shout, but it was sharp. Piercing. “If you and Wu are so set to solve this case by yourselves, why even involve us in the first place? Why did we even _come_ to this _stupid_ meeting if you weren't even gonna consider the other side?”  
Green’s eyes were blown wide. Kai couldn’t blame him - he was frozen himself, his lungs forgetting how to function. “What?” Their leader asked, his voice just barely warbling.

“ _Why_ are we _here_ ?” Now Jay was definitely shouting. He took another pace forward. “We’re risking our lives every time we wear these outfits, we’re dodging bullets and following _your_ orders, and then when something important comes up, you keep us in the dark and gag us!”

Jay was standing inches away from Green’s face now, finger pointing accusingly at his mask. Finally, Green seemed to snap out of his shock, and his gaze grew hotter, his eyebrows narrowing. “You think I _want_ to keep this stuff from you?” He slapped Jay’s hand away and squared up against him, shoulders broadening. “ _Wu_ won’t let me share with you! If it were up to _me-_ ”

“What about the conference just now, then?” Jay interrupted. “Was it also _Wu’s_ idea to shut us up and have you speak for all of us? Because that plan was _shit._ ”

Green’s eyebrows crinkled. “What, you don’t agree with what I said? Blue, there’s _no way_ we can out our identities to the public. You can’t find issue with that.”

“He was trying to come up with a workaround before you dismissed him!” Jay growled through gritted teeth, throwing his arm out to point back at the building they had just come from. “Did you even _listen_ to anything he was offering?”

“Of course!” Green’s eyebrows fell back down, but his voice betrayed that his confusion was still evident. “I knew everything that was on the line, but a truce with the police and some side cash isn’t worth unmasking to the world.”

“ _Side cash!_ ” Jay echoed disbelievingly, throwing his hands into the air. “That’s what you call the money we’d get from working for the _Mayor_.”

Green’s eyes finally cleared. “Is that what this is about?” He asked incredulously. “You just want the _money?_ ”

Jay’s hands fell slowly. Kai couldn’t see his eyes from where he was standing, but he could see them perfectly in his mind - as cold and hard as his voice when he replied. “I don’t expect _you_ to understand.” He paused for a moment, sizing up Green as if it were his first time seeing him. “You’re probably some rich kid whose had everything handed to him.”

A moment of silence stretched, no one on the rooftop daring to breath. Distantly, Kai could hear cars honking however many stories below.

Then, Green’s eyes were _glowing_ , actually sparking with a green a shade lighter than his uniform, not dissimilar to the way White’s did. Green energy like lighting cracked around his palms. “You have _no idea_ what my life has been like-”

And suddenly, Kai could think again, and he could _move_ \- he had his hand on Jay’s shoulder, gripping tighter than it had before, and he shoved past him. His other palm landed on Green’s chest, and pushed him back, causing their leader to stumble and the energy to dissipate. “ _Stop._ ” Kai barely recognized his own voice over the loud ringing in his ears.

“And you have no idea how much my family could use that money!” Jay’s hand gripped Kai’s wrist tightly, and he twisted as his wrenched it away from him. Kai winced and sucked in a sharp breath, and when he looked back up, Nya was standing between him and Jay.

“Stop fighting,” She growled.

Kai looked over his shoulder to find Black with a hand tightly clasped around Green’s arm, and White standing between the two parties, looking completely lost.

After another stretch of silence, Green sniffed and shrugged out of Black’s grip. He let him go, but kept a distrustful gaze on him. Green’s shoulders slumped, and gave a watery sigh. “I’m sorry.”

Kai glanced back at Jay over Nya’s shoulder. His face under his mask was burning, and he quickly looked away. “Don’t be. Feeling sorry doesn’t _fix_ anything.”

Jay turned and sprinted away. No one called out to stop him. Kai’s wrist throbbed.

* * *

 He almost didn’t expect Jay to be at school the next week after his following radio silence. Of course, Jay had no reason to avoid Kai like he had to avoid Red.

That’s what Kai told himself as they ate lunch side by side in silence, the long sleeves of his varsity jacket hiding the swelling bruise on his wrist. He couldn’t bring himself to join in or even keep up with the conversations fluttering around them.

Jay finished his food quickly and left the table with a muttered farewell, picking up his trash and pulling on his backpack. Kai watched him trail away from the cafeteria.

A hand slapped against the table, making him jump and refocusing his attention. “The hell did you do to Jay?” Tox accused, her voice as sharp as her eyeliner.

“I-I didn’t do anything,” Kai stuttered, because he hadn’t, had he? All he had done is pull him away from an argument, and even then, Jay didn’t even know that was him.

“Jay not talking to us is normal, but Jay not talking to _you?_ ” Chamille shook her head, her purple hair swaying around her shoulders. “You’re like, the one person he willingly hangs out with in this school.”

“Really?” Kai’s heart sank a little. He had hoped that Jay would have made some other friends by now. Thinking about their school and the students in it, however, and how they had treated his sister - Kai guessed he couldn’t blame Jay for avoiding most of them. It would be hypocritical of him to think anything else.

“He was too good for Kai anyways,” A new face slid in, smirk framed by short gray hair. “He probably just realized how much better he could do.”

Kai’s face twisted into a scowl. “You’re not funny, Ash.” Kai had never gotten along with the emo MCR t-shirt adorned sophomore, but he hung around with the kids that Kai _could_ tolerate often enough for him to grow accustomed to his constant sneer and speaking pattern comprised solely of snide comments.

“He did seem like he was finally starting to open up, though.” Neuro commented, lowering the box of chocolate milk he had been drinking. He leaned on his elbow and played with his straw absently, humming. “Very peculiar that he would so suddenly recluse himself.”

“And you’re _sure_ it’s nothing you did, Hair Gel?” Tox gave Kai another stink eye, leaning across the table to study him closer. “I’ve seen you guys heading out together after school before.”

Kai sighed and slumped forward onto the cafeteria table, letting his cheek fall on a patch that thankfully didn’t feel too sticky. “No, it’s nothing I did.” _Not this version of me, anyways._

He felt Tox study his face for a few more moments. Chamille spoke up. “Something probably happened at home, then. It’s no big deal, dude probably just wants space.”

Everyone at their table voiced their agreements, and quickly moved onto other topics. Kai’s mind continued to wrestle with his chest as he distantly recalled Jay and Green’s argument for the thousandth time since it happened.

_“You have no idea how much my family could use that money!”_

Was something happening to Jay at home? Kai didn’t know much about his family - he knew Jay’s parents were named Ed and Edna, and that he lived outside of town. The few times that Jay’s parents were brought up, he had seemed to smile brighter and talk faster. It was clear that he loved them. Were they having financial troubles?

Kai swallowed thickly. _Did_ Jay actually want to be alone? Kai’s body itched to stand up and track down Jay and ask him all of these questions so he could know just what to say and do to fix everything. But he knew that he couldn’t risk it without losing hold of his secret identity, and subsequently, losing his friend.

* * *

Jay

_Friday, 11:05 am_

_Hey man, are you here today?_

 

_oh no sorry_

_im sick_

 

_Yeah I figured, its been a rough week. Take care of yourself!_

_Want me to collect your hw or something?_

 

_no its fine i emailed my teachers already_

_thanks tho_

 

_Anytime. Lemme know if there’s anything I can do to help out_

 

_Saturday, 10:55 pm_

_hey this is dumb but do you wanna meet up_

_sorry_

 

_like right now?_

 

_yeah_

 

_Where are you?_

* * *

Kai’s breath billowed visibly in front of him, and he cut through the smoke as he marched forward. Getting past Nya had been easier than he’d thought it’d be. Maybe even _she_ was getting tired from their constant infighting.

He pulled his arms tighter to his sides as a cool gust of wind greeted him at the street corner. Two cars passed by, and Kai crossed without waiting for the signal. He’d probably have to change to something warmer than his varsity jacket soon, if the weather continued to steadily dip like this. He had even grabbed one of Nya’s scarfs on his way out and tucked it under his collar. Now, he buried his nose in it as he entered the park, feet stepping off of the sidewalk onto the grass. It squelched slightly under his feet, meaning the sprinklers must have gone off recently. _At least that means we won’t get soaked,_ Kai thought.

He pulled his eyes up and tried to peer into the darkness pooled between street lights, but he couldn’t make out the bench quite yet. He glanced sidelong across the street to spot the neon Chen’s Noodle House logo flickering next to its neighbors. He refocused on his destination.

He didn’t even dare wonder why Jay had asked to meet him so late. He didn’t ask why Jay was in town. He didn’t ask _anything_ for fear of Jay resyndicating the offer. He simply changed out of his PJs, gave some bullshit excuse that Nya definitely saw through, and left. Meeting up at midnight randomly was a thing that friends did, right?

The bench was visible through the gloom, and so was Jay’s silhouette, seated to the far side. Kai’s veins thrummed with nerves. He had no idea what to expect, but the knots in his stomach told him that something was going to change tonight.

 _I hope it’ll be a good change,_ he thought - prayed, really - as he stepped around the bench opposite to the side Jay was on, leaning over to catch his attention.

Jay was wearing a beanie over his head, and a jacket more suitable to combat the biting wind than Kai’s. His eyes locked onto Kai’s, and he shifted his knees away from his chest, letting his feet slide to the floor. A hand raised up to the side of his face, and he pulled out a familiar blue earbud from under his hat that Kai just noticed. He smiled weakly, and gave Kai a half hearted wave. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Kai replied, sliding onto the other half of the bench. In his stubbornness to avoid thinking about why Jay wanted to meet, he had also avoided thinking about what to say when he got this far. Seeing Jay now, though, with his face dimly outlined by the streetlight behind him - his hair spilling out from under his hat, blue cord trailing down the left of his face, his freckles barely visible, and just the faintest flush in his cheeks from the cold… “Are you okay?” The question came out unprompted, his voice a near whisper even though they had the entire park to themselves.

Jay smiled, and even through the dimness, his eyes seemed to perfectly catch the light. “Yeah. It’s been… a tough week.” He sighed, and his eyes shifted away from Kai for just a heartbeat before fluttering back. “Thanks for coming out.”

“Absolutely.” Kai replied in earnest. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Jay huffed a sigh and shifted ever so slightly. Kai copied the movement. “I… I want to. But I can’t.” His eyes were trained across the street to where their graffiti mural was. Without proper lighting, though, it might as well have been any normal brick wall. Still, they both knew that it was there. Kai was grateful that he had the forethought to show it to Jay. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry. I just wanna make sure that you’re alright, man.”

Jay nodded, and shifted his position again. Kai followed suit, and distantly realized that they were scooting closer together.

Silence stretched between them, the distant noise of cars screeching and honking echoing through the jungle of buildings surrounding them. Kai glanced to the sky, a soft tone of light purple, and wondered how he could phrase what he wanted to ask without revealing how he knew to ask it.

“You… you’re not sleeping out here, are you?” he asked hesitantly.

Jay’s eyes widened, and they snapped like a magnet back to Kai. “What? No! No, I’m not- it’s nothing like that.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and began fiddling absently with them.

Kai felt the weight of worry be lifted slightly off of his chest. _At least it’s not the worst case scenario, then._ Still, he had to be sure. “So you’re not like… about to lose your house or something? Is your family okay?” He knew that he was being too nosy, pushing too many boundaries for a friend he’s supposedly known for only a month, but he had to know. He just hoped Jay didn’t ask where Kai’s ideas came from.

His head shook again, and the weight lifted even further. “No, it’s… my parents are fine.” He fell silent again, but Kai could feel he had more to say. Kai hesitantly slid closer again, and Jay closed the gap so their thighs bumped. “I have to _have_ a house for it to be in trouble.” he mumbled.

Kai’s heart leapt to his throat. All of his dismissed worried returned tenfold. “So you- you are-?”

Jay closed his eyes and slowly shook his head again. He clasped his hands together on his lap. “I’m not homeless, Kai. I just…” He paused, and took in a shuddering breath. When he started speaking again, his voice was strained. “It’s embarrassing. I dunno, it’s never bothered me so much before but for some reason I’ve just been so much more _aware_ of it now.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re fine, Jay. You can tell me anything.” Kai’s hand itched to comfort him, but he was still hyper away of overstepping his boundaries, so he gripped it into a fist in his jacket pocket and settled for lightly bumping elbows.

Jay took another deep breath. “I live in a trailer,” He whispered, eyes downcast at his hands. “At a junkyard. Like, a literal _junkyard._ ”

The admission gave Kai pause. His eyes traveled over Jay’s figure as he carefully chose his reply. “Is it a bad place to live?”

“It’s a junkyard,” Jay laughed hollowly, and his hands began twisting again. “But I mean like, it’s a scrap heap, so there’s not like, rotting stuff. I actually used to think that it was really cool,” Jay admitted, glancing back up to the dark shadow covering their mural across the street. “When I was little, I’d make little coves out of rusted junk, and my parents would bring out food so I could spend all day in it.”

Kai smiled. “Weren't they scared it could topple down on you?”

Jay scoffed, and his eyes met Kai’s again, twinkling. “Nothing _I_ built would collapse. My dad is an engineer, he taught me how to build stuff. When I was young, it was stable scrap forts, and as I got older, he taught me electronics and stuff. We always have a good supply of parts to make gadgets out of,” The ghost of a smile played with Jay’s lips, and Kai couldn’t look away from it.

“That’s amazing,” _You’re amazing._ “Why do you not like it then?”

The smile slipped, and his eyebrows creased. “It’s a trailer. In a _junkyard_.” He sighed, and splayed his hands out on his thighs, rubbing up and down aimlessly. “And like… they deserve more. My parents are so amazing, dude. Did I ever tell you I was adopted?” Kai shook his head. “Right, you haven’t met them. Yeah, I- I was just some dumpster baby.” He chuckled, like it was a story he was used to telling and laughing about, but it was completely empty. “And the scrap heap was my dumpster. When my parents found me, instead of pawning me off to some orphanage, they just kept me.” Jay’s smile was so soft, so full. His eyelashes fluttered, and Kai felt guilty for looking, but he still couldn’t bring himself to stop. “So I want to repay them back somehow, you know?”

“Sure.” Kai agreed, even though he _didn’t_ really know, thinking back on his own relationship with his parents. Still, the way Jay explained it, Kai could almost imagine it, even if it made his heart ache painfully.

“So…” And then he was quiet again, smile fading as his features switched to something more contemplative. “I’ve told you about my job, right?”

And quickly, Kai was broken out of whatever trance he was trapped in. He had to tread carefully, now. “A little bit.”

“It’s… only a job in a loose sense, I guess.” Jay’s leg pressed slightly closer against Kai’s. “I’ve been in it for four years. And it’s _definitely_ work, and it takes a lot of time out of my day.” His eyes were boring holes into the hidden mural, now. “And… I have friends there. Really, _really_ close friends.”

Kai’s heart hammered in his chest. “Yeah?” He prompted, not trusting himself to say anything more.

“It’s the most fulfilling work you could ever do. It makes me so, _so_ happy…” He took a deep breath, and let out a shaky exhale. “But, it’s… it doesn’t pay me anything,” His voice was so quiet, in any other setting, Kai wouldn’t have been able to hear him. But here, alone in the park, surrounded by the glowing city, he could hear his own blood pulsing through his ears. “So I. I wonder sometimes if it’s even worth it, because I can’t help out my parents.”

It took a couple moments for understanding to come to him. When it did, it was like an ice cold wave sweeping up his body. “No, Jay, no, _you can’t-”_

“Kai?” Jay asked. In the back of his head, he knew that _Kai_ shouldn’t have such a strong reaction, shouldn’t so so insistent on Jay keeping some vague work he knew nothing about, but his panic was too deep. Jay _couldn’t_ leave the team.

“ _You can’t quit your job,_ ” He said instead, voice slightly strangled. “It- you just said how happy it made you, and how fulfilling it was, and how you had friends- you _can’t_ abandon those friends, Jay!”

Jay’s eyes were studying Kai’s face, eyebrows creased. After Kai finished talking, he scowled and glanced away. “They might not miss me that much anyways.” He mumbled. “Last time I saw them, I kinda made a scene. And I’ve been skipping my shifts the last week.”

Kai knew that Jay was missing patrols. He had been covering for him. “Never,” He swore, and his hand slid out of his pocket. “They could never not miss you. _No one_ could. Especially not after four years.”

Jay’s eyes were focused between them. Kai followed his gaze, and found their hands intertwined, Kai gripping Jay fiercely. He didn’t fully realize that he did that, but now that they were conjoined anyways, Kai gave him a reassuring squeeze. Jay huffed out a laugh, and his head fell against the back of the bench. Kai looked up from their hands to meet Jay’s eyes, all warmth and kindness. “I dunno. I’ve only know you for a month, but I still feel as close to you as I do any of them.”

The words meant to be sweet stabbed a sharp icicle of pain into Kai’s chest. _Traitor._ He returned the smile as best he could. _Liar._

“Here,” Jay reached over his chest with his free hand, and picked up his fallen earbud. He offered it with the same smile.

Kai reached across himself to grab it with his free hand, and carefully maneuvered it into his ear as the pair shifted against each other to find a comfortable position. The word _snuggled_ passed briefly through his mind, but Kai quickly shot it down and buried it deep.

A soft song passed through his ear as he slid the speaker in. Kai sighed deeply and let his eyes close and head fall back, willing the icicle jammed in his chest to melt.

His open hand rested on his chest, while the hand twisted with Jay used its thumb to trace soft circles over the other boy’s knuckles. This wasn’t too much, was it? Kai held Nya’s hand, sometimes, when she needed comforting or they were watching a really exciting show. And Jay didn’t seem weirded out by it. If anything, it seemed to calm him down. He still never gave a promise to keep working as a ninja, though, and that scared Kai. He couldn’t lose Jay in that part of his life.

And that was a very selfish way to look at it, because Jay was also an outstanding Ninja. His mouth was covered, but he still _smiled_ as if it were being broadcasted, and no matter how much he complained about something, he never half assed anything. Everything he did, he did with so much energy and love. Whether it was saving civilians or fiddling with tech, he was so _brave_ and _smart_. So what did Jay see in him?

It wasn't an answer to the unvoiced question, but as if he could sense his thoughts, Jay's head landed softly on Kai's shoulder. Now, pressed up against him, Kai could feel his chest expanding at the same pace as his own, and he even imagined he could feel Jay’s heart beating as loudly as his. But that was just wishful thinking.

_Isn’t it?_

Jay's thumb moved against his hand, and his palm shifted to better grip him. Jay squeezed lightly. Kai thought about where he was and what he did to find himself in the middle of the city park at midnight, holding hands with Jay, as they leaned against each other and shared a pair of earbuds. It was too surreal to process. But when he looked at it from the outside like that, then was it really such wishful thinking? Was it even possible that…?

Sometime during his thoughts, Kai had leaned his head against Jay’s hat. He ever so slightly turned his head, just to see if he could see Jay’s expression.

Jay was staring at him. Kai had no idea for how long he had been watched while he stared into space, but now that he caught the others boys gaze, he expected him to look away. He didn't. Jay was staring at him, eyes drifting through his facial features in the same way Kai imagined his own doing.

Was this weird, he wondered? Was it wrong for him to try to find each of his friend’s freckles through the dim lighting, to switch so quickly between fixating on his eyes and on his mouth? Even when he was doing the same?

Kai, against all his better judgement, started to let himself think that the light blush on either of their faces was from more than the night air.

He knew he still had an earbud in, but he couldn't hear the music anymore. His eyes were trying to stay focused on a freckle next to Jay's nose that continued to swim in and out of his vision when Jay moved. He shifted, slowly, eyes never leaving Kai’s face. Kai saw his own body move with him, even though all he could feel was static.

Jay’s free hand moved up hesitantly. It landed below his face, grabbing the top of his scarf. Jay paused again, eyes searching.

Kai didn't know what Jay was looking for. What he was sure of, however was that if this lasted any longer than it had already then he would _literally die._

Still, his own eyes searched back. Their foreheads knocked softly together, and as their breath mingled, Kai’s thoughts became muddled and harder to process.

If there had even been a reason to _not_ kiss Jay, Kai sure as hell couldn't think of it now.

And as if reading his thoughts, Jay finally pulled carefully on Kai's scarf, pushing his lips into Kai’s.

 _Finally._ Kai sighed into the kiss, and pulled up his free hand to carefully wrap around Jay’s cheek, his thumb tracing his jaw as Jay tilted his face higher. The hand around his scarf tightened, and Jay pulled closer, their lips carefully sliding into each other.

Their hands tightened around each other. Kai’s hand slid smoothly up Jay’s face, pushing under his hat and curling his fingers into the soft warm hair underneath. Jay leaned forward, and their noses rubbed together, so Kai twisted his face- eyes fluttering open for a moment just long enough for him to appreciate Jay’s freckles up close- and he pushed back in just as hard, mouth slipping open just enough to tease Jay’s top lip.

Maybe it was the unexpected sensation of tongue and teeth, or maybe Kai’s hand had become _too_ tangled into Jay’s hair and pulled just a little too hard, but across their joined hands, Kai felt a jolt.

His kissing quickly fell off kilter. Jay seemed to catch on, and he pulled away slowly, breathing slightly labored. Kai pulled back, and stared at their joined hands, confused.

_Why did I feel pain?_

His eyes trailed up Jay's arm, back to his face. His hat had fallen off his head, his hair was a mess, and his face was flushed.

_Oh. Right, lightning powers. He shocked me._

Jay gave a small nervous smile that made Kai's chest burn.

_He shocked me, and he didn't notice. He doesn't know._

_He doesn't know._

And just like that, the fog was gone. Kai kissed Jay before he told him that he was Red. Jay kissed Kai before realizing that he was Red. Kai had lied and manipulated Jay, his friend, his crush, for _weeks-_ and now he had kissed him. He had kissed Jay while lying about who he was, and Jay had kissed him fully trusting and believing every lie he had been fed.

Kai felt awful.

Jay’s face slowly lost its soft smile. His eyes widened, his eyebrows pushed together to form a small ball of nerves. His lips thinned out, and Kai didn't think that he could continue looking at him, because he looked so _scared._

“...Kai?”

 _I could tell him now._ The thought was more obligatory than it was an actual option for Kai. Of course, he _should_ tell Jay, and tell him right now, without wasting anymore time or creating anymore problems between them that could have been avoided with _honesty_. Despite all of that, Kai knew that he wouldn't tell him now. He could begin to bring himself to form the words.

The space between them was suddenly far too hot, and the song in his ear too loud.

So Kai yanked the earbud out of his ear, and pushed himself off of the bench and away from Jay. He stumbled slightly from the sudden rush of blood.

He didn't want to see Jay’s face. He didn't want to face the consequences of his actions, neither the ones now nor the weeks of lying by omission.

So he turned his back on the bench and ran.

Jay didn't call after him, and he didn't know why that hurt as much as it did when it was exactly what he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im a mess I was so embarrassed writing the kissing scene just fuck me up
> 
> ANYWAYS SORRY FOR ENDING IT LIKE THAT BUT!! Check out [THIS](https://soda-syrup.tumblr.com/post/173256995055/i-drew-a-part-from-whiparoundandcry-fic-earbuds) fuckin rad as shit art drawn by [soda](https://soda-syrup.tumblr.com/) for last chapter when Blue and Kai take a selfie together!!! i screamed irl  
> (Im gonna add the link on the previous chapter but I wanna put it on this update first so that everyone sees it >:00)
> 
> My tumblr is [@whiparoundandcry](https://whiparoundandcry.tumblr.com/) ask me about my experience buying my first mini figure (its dick from lego batman and i love him so much)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you think this is a surprise for you its more of a surprise for me  
> I hate that the finale is taking so long so I decided to break it up. Today's my birthday so I thought I'd share the love! Hope you enjoy (peace sign emoji)
> 
> Also!!! Trigger warning for a fairly graphic panic attack that lasts for like, the entire first half of this chapter. Its not really skipable bc the plot never stops moving this close to the end, but take care of yourselves as you read!

Kai  _ ran _ . He sprinted across streets, heedless of walk signals or cars that blared their horns at him as he dashed by just inches past them. His heart was in his throat, and his eyes stung, but he pushed himself through the city at a full sprint, his chest and face burning from the inside out. His mind screamed wordlessly, and his nails dug sharply into his palms.

He had no sense of how long he had been running for, or where he had been running, but he eventually found himself by his apartment building. With great effort, Kai forced his legs to stumble to a stop. He doubled over and wheezed as he fought to catch his breath. A sour tang at the back of his throat made him gag and cough roughly into his jacket. He smeared his cheek with his palm, chest heaving and mouth tasting like copper. He staggered up the few stairs and peered into the illuminated lobby.

_ Empty. _ He punched in the code at the door and pushed through, shoving his hands into his pockets and averting his eyes to his shoes as he strode to the staircase. In the stairwell, he took the steps two at a time until he reached his floor.

His breathing had slowed significantly by the time he reach his door, but his heart was still pounding wildly. He had no idea what he was doing, no idea where he was  _ going _ -

He pushed the door open as quietly as he could and peered in. The kitchen lights were on, and his sister laid spread out on the couch, expression lax and snoring softly. Kai closed the door with a gentle click, and stood in the doorway, eyes glued to Nya.

She breathed in sharply, and rolled over on the couch, curing into the back cushions. After a few more moments, her breathing evened out again, and Kai released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

_ She tried to wait up for me. _ His exhale left his chest hollow, but he suddenly couldn't bring his breath back in. His hand shakily rose to his mouth, and his wide eyes bore holes into Nya’s sleeping form. It was a struggle to breath past the growing lump in his throat, and his breath stuttered as he forced the air in through his fingers.

_ Not out here. _ Kai desperately tried to reason with himself as he felt tears as hot as boiling water sting the corners of his eyes and blur his vision.  _ Don't break down out here. I can't wake her up. _

Keeping his fingers firmly digging into his jaw and covering his mouth, Kai tip-toed with as much care as he could past the couch and into his room. Too scared to close the door behind him, he guided it until it was less than an inch from shutting, and lightly stepped back.

He exhaled shakily, peeling his hand off of his face. His breath was burning hot- whether that was a byproduct of his powers or a normal bodily function, he didn't know anymore. His palms scrubbed furiously at his eyes, wiping away both the tears that has slipped out unbidden and those that he was still desperately trying to hold in. 

_ “I’ve only know you for a month, but I still feel as close to you as I do any of them.” _

This was no good. Keeping his hand on his face- palms digging into his eyelids so sharply that he was starting to see white- he slipped out of his shoes and stumbled to his dresser. As he reached it, he tried desperately to even his breathing, hands sliding up his face to grip his tousled hair, pulling sharply- but the sensation only pulled up memories from not ten minutes ago of his fingers digging into auburn hair, fingernails gently scraping a scalp that wasn't his, curls wrapping between his knuckles while he melted sweetly into-

He wrenched his hand out of his hair, pulling out several stands with the motion. His hands shook dangerously, but he managed to pull open his bottom drawer with minimum noise. He tried to forced his mind blank as he changed into his uniform, but it would still drift, reliving the memory of a soft yet insistent tugging at his scarf as he tore it off himself, of fingers intertwined with his own as he pulled on his gloves, and the ghostly imprint of Jay’s lips pressed against his own as-

Kai yanked the bandana down before he had finished pulling it up. He rubbed his wrist roughly against his lips, trying to rid himself of the sensation before roughly pulling it back up over his nose, and peeking out of his door.

Nya was still sleeping peacefully on the couch as he crept past it. Not daring to breath, Kai carefully unlatched the window, the two clicks cutting through the static filling his ears like sirens. Several seconds later, with no change in Nya’s soft snoring, Kai raised the window and let it slide into place.

He looked over his shoulder, studying Nya’s back as she slept, sides gently rising and falling. The situation reminded him of the years before Nya had joined the team, when he had to sneak out like this every night, constantly afraid of waking his sister while leaving or of her waking up herself to find the apartment empty and window left wide open. 

He never liked lying to Nya. She may have been the younger sibling, but she had always been his rock, his  _ foundation. _ When their parents had suddenly broken contact while out on another business trip, leaving them with a limited bank account and no guidance, Kai had kept pushing because of his little brother. And when Wu had found him and offered him power and training, Kai had accepted because he had a little  _ sister _ , who despite already being so  _ powerful _ and  _ brave _ herself, desperately needed his protection then more than ever. Every major decision he had made in his life was decided for Nya’s benefit, because even if she had changed from his helpless little brother into his fierce, master of water little sister,  _ Kai _ was never going to change from being her older brother.

But with each passing day, he felt like that title was holding less and less. His purpose had been to  _ protect _ Nya for so long, he didn't realize when she suddenly started protecting him instead.

Because  _ she was right _ , like she always was. She had  _ tried _ to tell Kai,  _ tried _ to talk him into reason, because she could see exactly how deep of a hole Kai had been digging himself into the more he lied to Jay. She had warned him, tried to protect him from this fall. But Kai refused to listen, because  _ he  _ was the older brother,  _ he  _ was the protector, and  _ he _ knew all the right things-- even when he obviously didn't. 

Nya was right. Nya was right and Kai was a  _ fucking idiot. _

 

* * *

 

He couldn’t run as recklessly over the buildings as he had through the streets, but that didn’t stop him from trying. He grappled up to higher and higher buildings, scaling several by hand, forcing his breath in through clenched teeth and wiping furiously at his eyes whenever his vision started to blur.

He still wasn’t sure what he was doing, but his focus had narrowed into going  _ up _ . So he climbed, digging his fingers into window sills and cracked brick, shooting out his wire to latch onto the ledge of the roof when it came into view and pulling himself up and over. He’d only allow himself a few moments to double over, heaving to catch his breath and hack out several coughs before he’d be scanning the surrounding buildings, looking for an even higher one.

Deep into the heart of the city, he found himself tripping and stumbling to a collapse on the top of a spire that pointed itself into the clouds. Growling, he pushed himself back up to his feet. He swayed dangerously, and stumbled away the edge. The section of roof that he found himself on was smaller than the sections below- around twenty five square feet, with a large round antenne wider than Kai sprouting in the center. Kai let his body collapse against the antenna, digging his face into the crook of his elbow and breathing in raggedly.

_ This is so stupid. _ Kai’s fist clenched tightly as his whole body seized up, and his teeth grinded against each other.  _ What am I doing here? _

He tried to bury his face farther into his arm, breath hiccuping as his tears forced themselves out from between his eyelids, no matter how tightly he squeezed them shut.  _ Why did I run? Why can’t I just… _

“ _ Stupid, stupid, stupid… _ ” His voice was broken and hoarse when he whispered into his arm. His mouth was thick with mucus, and his breath made his skin burn under the mask. “ _ So fucking stupid….” _

Breathing in shakily, he pulled his face back enough to wiggle his mask down to his neck so he could wipe his nose on the sleeve of his gi. He had lost Nya as his support, he had lost Jay as his friend, and he was going to lose  _ Blue _ as his partner. The team was falling apart, and Kai had only been working to make things worse, and now…

Kai lowered his face, pushing the top his head into the crook of his elbow, and he screamed at his feet. His throat was still clogged, so it came out a broken noise, catching and stuttering, rough and pathetic. He squeezed his eyes shut and dug further into himself as he ran out of breath and the yell dwindled into quiet. He choked as he breathed in, and the air immediately tore itself away with a sob. He could barely control himself anymore, barely keep himself breathing or upright as his knees wobbled, threatening to cave in-

“Red?”

His whimpers cut out immediately, and his body froze, thrumming with what little adrenaline he had left. He didn’t turn around.

A footstep. “Hey, uh- you- you ok?”

_ Green _ . 

Kai released a rattling breath, but couldn’t hold back the choking noise the left him.  _ Fuck. _ He pressed his face back into his arm and refused to face him. He tried to will his shoulders steady, but he was already broken, and he couldn’t stop his shaking, or the small gasps and sniffs that escaped him. 

Green didn’t say anything else. Kai began to wonder if he had just walked away when he heard his quiet footsteps approaching him. A delicate hand landed on his shoulder, and the soft touch only made Kai break down further, releasing a choking sound with his sob, and hunching over himself further. Green kept his hand in place, gently holding Kai’s shoulder as he fought to regain control of his emotions.

He felt hopeless and lost, but overwhelmingly, he felt  _ frustrated _ at himself _.  _ He had ran from Jay, he had pushed Nya away, and now he was crying and sobbing in front of  _ Green _ . 

His eyebrows buried themselves in a deep scowl as he tried to control his breathing.  _ In through the mouth, out through the nose… _

He repeated the process a couple times before he trusted himself to speak.  _ Deep breath in… _ “I’m-”  _ and out. _ “-...sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s ok.” Green moved closer so their sides were pressed together, and his hand slid across to wrap around Kai’s other shoulder so he was holding him in a half hug. “It’s ok.”

Green may have been more than a head shorter, but as hunched over as Kai was, the two were about the same height. Kai let himself go lax and lean into the embrace, breaking away from the antenne and letting his arm drop. Once there was room, Green brought up his other arm to hug Kai fully.

Despite the fresh wave of tears he felt coming, Kai’s lips thinned into a tight smile as he pulled his arms around Green’s shoulders and buried his face into his own bicep. He released a rattling sigh, and for the first time since kissing Jay, let himself relax. 

More tears spilled out, but he didn’t try to hold them back. He sniffed pathetically, but he was past caring. 

Several minutes later, after Kai had quieted down, Green shifted under him. “You good?” He asked quietly.

Kai took a deep, clear breath before releasing Green. He kept his hands on the younger boy’s shoulders and held him at arm’s length, looking at him for the first time. He forced a crooked smile. “Yeah. Sorry, but, uh- thanks.”

Green’s eyes widened slightly when he saw Kai pull back. “Oh uh, Red- your- your mask-” He brought his hand up to tug at the bandana covering his lower face for emphasis.

Kai glance down and grabbed the red bandana still lose around his neck. “Oh. Huh.” He felt a lot less panicked than he thought he should, but that might have been from exhaustion. It must have been well past one by now. “Right. Sorry.” He wiped his nose on his sleeve one last time before pulling the mask back up. It’s not like it mattered anyways, right? There were no lights up here, just the dim glow of the city however many stories away bleeding up to them. It’s not like Green had a name to pin to his face, anyways. Seeing his nose and mouth didn’t give away his identity. 

“My name is Kai.”

Not like that did, anyways. 

Green’s eyebrows shot up immediately, and his eyes bulged. “W-wha-?”

“Sorry.” Kai looked away and lifted a hand up to scratch under his eye. It felt warm and swollen. “Forget I said that. I’m not- obviously, I’m not in the right mind right now.” He huffed out a sigh.  _ Hope that doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. _ He turned away and began walking to the building’s edge, still uncertain of where exactly he was going.

“Wait, don’t- Red! Or, Kai, or- whatever.” Green’s hand grabbed his wrist, and Kai stopped. He looked over his shoulder to his leader. Green’s eyes searched him, burning intently. “What are you doing out here? What’s wrong?”

A small flicker of Kai’s usual ire reignit in his chest, and he huffed as he turned back to face Green, placing his hands on his hips. “I could ask you the same. How’d you find me?”

“I’m on  _ patrol _ .” Green emphasized, copying Kai’s pose. Kai wondered if that was on purpose or subconscious. “I saw you climbing up the building, and I thought you were some kind of super villain trying to take control of the radio tower.”

Kai glanced to the antenne in the middle of the roof. “Is that what this is? I don’t even- I don’t even remember coming up here, honestly.” He sighed again and dropped his pose, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry.” Kai felt like he hadn’t done anything but apologize since Green showed up. “I guess- guess I just had a rough night.” he mumbled, keeping his eyes downcast. “I didn’t even think about…” He trailed off. He didn’t really think about  _ anything _ , looking back. He just moved.

Green hummed. “Do you always get in uniform when you have a rough time?” 

Kai shrugged, studying the roof below them. “I guess. It helps me… feel like I have some power? Or control?” He laughed hollowly. “Obviously I still don’t, but. I really didn’t think this through.” 

Green was silent for a moment. Kai risked raising hit eyes to look back up at him, and found the other boy’s gaze hard to read. “Why did you tell me your name?” 

Oh. Right, he had done that, hadn’t he? “I don’t know.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I guess I’ve… been thinking.”

“Yeah?” Green prompted. 

Kai studied his face for a moment longer before responding, knowing that he was about to go out on a limb, but fuck it, he had already lost his shame and dignity for the night. Maybe Green was exactly the person he needed to talk to about this. “Why did you reveal to us?”

Kai could hear Green breath in slowly through his nose. The ninja leader looked away. “Oh. That. You… remember?” 

Kai huffed a short breath. “I don’t think any of us have forgotten. It was sorta a thing.”

Green sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Yeah, it was definitely a thing.” He grumbled, the bearly visible bridge of his nose wrinkling.

Kai smiled to himself. “What made you do it?”

“Man, I don’t- I dunno,” He started to raise his hands in a shrugging motion, but stopped halfway through, settling them back at his sides. “I mean- It was a long time ago.” He mumbled again, eyes darting to and from Kai’s face. “Gray wasn’t even on the team.” Kai nodded, but remained silent. After receiving no response, Green growled in frustration. “I guess- it was really childish of me, but I mean- I guess I was just, happy that we were all finally getting along? And like, I…” He cleared his throat. “I guess I thought that, we could all be friends outside of the ninja stuff too. Since I didn’t…” He trailed off, and coughed awkwardly into his arm.

Kai nodded. “Wu still doesn’t know?”

Green shrugged. “Not if you, Black, White, or Blue ever told him. He never said anything to me about it.”

Kai chucked. “He’d be  _ pissed _ .” 

“Is that what,” Green gestured vaguely to Kai, to the antenna, and around the rooftop. “All of this was about? Are you thinking of…” he trailed off, but Kai understood.

But he wasn’t sure if that really  _ was _ what all of this was about. He shrugged. “I mean, I guess I had stuff building into…  _ that _ .” He cringed at the memory of his breakdown- hell, his sleeves were still wet. “But I mean… I guess I’ve been wondering if this secret identity thing is really more beneficial than it is harmful.” He tried to say it casually, but he knew he was treading dangerously. Wu would have his head his he ever found out that Kai had even  _ thought _ that. And that out of all of them,  _ Green  _ had the most obligation to report him to Wu, but…

He was telling the  _ truth. _ Beyond even just his trouble with Jay, Kai realized that he  _ wanted _ the rest of his team to know who he was. He wanted to share his personal life with White, Black, and Green- and he  _ trusted  _ them with it as well. 

Green studied him wearily. Kai knew that he had every right to shut him down, to tell him off, but even through the dim, he could see the shine in his eyes. “You feel the same way.” Kai stated. It wasn’t a question, but he still felt relief wash over him when Green hesitantly nodded. 

“...yeah. I’ve had my doubts.” Green’s shoulders relaxed, and he glanced away. “More so recently than not…” After a few heartbeats, he glanced back. “It’s not that easy, though.”

Kai shrugged. “We don’t have to figure it out tonight.”  _ But I do have to figure out  _ something _ really soon if I ever wanna kiss Jay again. _ And  _ fuck _ , he was embarrassed to realize how much he  _ really wanted _ to kiss Jay again. Even if he didn’t deserve to. He coughed into his elbow, forcing his mind back into the present. “But hey, I guess I got you out of the way?” He smiled, hoping that Green would be able to see it under his mask.

The boy across from him chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you did. Maybe try something different with the other three though?”

Kai drummed his fingers against his leg, humming in thought. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to go back to your patrolling then. Sorry for keeping you.” He gave a small two finger salute, and turned away.

“Are you going home?” Green asked before Kai would get too far.

He paused, thought over the question for a few moments, and shrugged.  _ Probably not _ .

Green sighed. “Do you wanna patrol together then? I’m sure it’d beat running around aimlessly.”

Kai mulled it over, and turned back to look at Green again. The boy was looking to his side, past the building ledge and out to the city, doing a terrible job at feigning disinterest. Kai smiled to himself, his chest warming at the sight. He turned around fully and began walking back to Green. He looked back up as Kai got closer, and squaked indignantly when Kai pushed his palm against the top of his hood roughly, rubbing back and forth. It was more of an open palmed noogie than it was a playful hair ruffle, what with his hair being covered, but Kai still felt satisfied with it.    
When Nya had started transitioning, Kai couldn’t have been happier or more supportive of her- but part of him had still felt like he had lost a little brother to gain his little sister. Now, he wondered if he had just been looking in the wrong place for a little brother. 

“Sure, lets hang.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was more than he deserved, but he started to feel better while hanging out with Green. He even managed to goad the younger boy into a rooftop race (which he  _ definitely  _ won, because it was his word against Green’s). Kai didn't usually take the graveyard shifts, so he wasn't used to jumping around the city as late as it was now. He could feel worry nip at his heels as he soared through the air behind Green, intrusive thought wondering what this was doing to his sleep schedule, or what Jay was doing now, what he must have been going through while Kai had the gall to have  _ fun _ \- but hell, it was a Saturday night, and it felt nice. He didn't  _ deserve _ to have fun, or to feel nice, but he figured that it’d help him make amends in the long run. It was relaxing to spend time with Green and pretend like everything was ok, just for the night.

They were lying side by side on the roof of a building far shorter than the one they met on earlier that night, pretending to stargaze. Pretending, because even without the overcast skies, the city lights kept the Ninjago sky from ever reaching any shade darker than a light gray. Without warning, Green jerked up and pulled his hand to his ear. Kai slowly sat up as well, watching him listen to the radio feed Kai knew he was connected to.

After several seconds, Green sighed and fell back down, dropping his hand.

Kai stayed upright, pulling his knees up and loosely circling his arms around them. “What was it?”

Green shrugged and lazily waved a hand. “Some guy a few blocks over got caught trying to sell drugs to underaged kids. The police already got him, they were just calling it in because the kids ran off.”

Kai cocked an eyebrow. “Wanna check it out anyways?”

“Why bother?” Green asked, though he sat up again to face Kai. “It's already taken care of.”

“We could try to find the kids? Corner them and give 'em the good ol  _ ‘don’t do drugs’ _ talk, yaknow?” 

Green shrugged and pushed himself to his feet. “I don't think it’s worth chasing down middle schoolers for committing a nonviolent crime.”

“Ooooo, political!” Kai also jumped to his feet, bouncing on his toes. “ _ Spicy _ . I love it.”

Green shrugged again and glanced away, but Kai could see the barest of dimples forming on his cheeks. “But we can go look anyways. This is probably the most exciting thing that's gonna happen tonight.”

Green stretched his arms above his head, and took off to the back of the building, leaping over the alleyway to land on the building behind it. Kai followed close behind. Most buildings on this side of town were similar heights, so it made travel easier.

“Yeah, don't you miss large scale crime? Whatever happened to  _ bank robberies? _ You remember those?”

Green snorted, falling into line next to Kai as the pair jogged together across the roofs of the city. “There was a large scale robbery just last month. Remember, at Borg?”

Kai did remember. He remembered that it was a distraction placed by the Sons of Garmadon so they could steal the Oni mask undetected from the Ninjago Art Museum. The first strike that started all of this.

He hummed in response.

He saw the blue and red lights flashing below the buildings before they reached it. The car was pulled into a wide alleyway, and as the pair creeped forward, he could hear the familiar static of police radio chatter echoing upwards. Kai and Green crouched down simultaneously, and creeped to peer over the edge of the roof.

The alley was illuminated by the flashing of the police lights. Kai squinted against the bright colors to make out the human shapes leaning against the car- one stooped over with their hands place on the hood and legs spread apart, and the other leaning casually against the driver's door, holding what was probably the car radio up to their face through the open window. The figure leaning over the hood was obviously the criminal, and the one by the door the cop, but beyond that, Kai couldn’t discern any more details. 

“Oh my God, that’s Ronin.” Green whispered to Kai, scooting closer.

“What?” Kai tried to peer farther into the scene, but he could hardly make out anything other than their silhouettes. “How can you tell?”

“Who else wears that kind of hat?” Green snorted. 

Blinking against the neon lights, Kai could just barely make out the tent shape of a straw hat on the criminal’s head. “I mean, Wu does sometimes. And my mailman.”

Kai could practically hear Green roll his eyes with his response. “Well, I doubt Wu or your  _ mailman _ are getting arrested for selling drugs to minors.” Green was silent for a moment. “Actually, I think my mailman wears that kinda hat too.”

Kai scoffed and pulled back from the edge to rub his eyes. “We haven't seen Ronin in a hot minute. I thought he was still in jail.”

“It's not unbelievable that he’d find a way to get out sooner.” Green stayed by the building edge, face illuminated in red and blue intervals. “...Think he knows anything about the Sons of Garmadon?”

Kai froze for a moment. “What?” Green didn't repeat himself, only continued to gaze down at the scene. “Why would he?”

“He’s a criminal.” Green supplied. “And they've obviously got some control over all the other crime circles, since there's been such a decrease in activity. Ronin's worked with us in the past.”

“For a price.” Kai mumbled. “Who knows what he’ll ask for in return.”

“Why don't we give him the favor first?” Green smiled, finally turning his face to meet Kai’s eye. “Looks like he could use one, and he's not in much of a position to bargain.”

Kai’s eyebrows knitted together, and his jaw dropped slightly under his mask. “Are you- we don't even know for sure if it's Ronin down there!” Kai just barely remembered to keep his voice down, hissing out the last words.

“It’s him.” Green replied confidently. “Get him to tell you everything he knows before you let him loose.”

“Wait, Green-” Kai cut himself off with a low growl as the young leader disappeared over the wall. He pulled himself back to the building’s edge, muttering under his breath. “Why can’t we just- take a picture of him getting arrested and send it in the group chat? That’d be fun, and we wouldn’t have to  _ actually _ interact with him.” Kai knew that this wasn’t a terrible idea, though. He knew that Ronin was a knowledgeable source that they shouldn’t pass up on. And when compared to a lot of the other criminals they dealt with, he wasn’t a terrible guy. Something about him just always rubbed Kai the wrong way.

Several heartbeats later, there was a loud clattering from the alley entrance. The silhouette of the police officer shot up, the radio in their hand lowering. 

“ _ Hey Pig! _ ” Green’s voice echoed down the alley, pitched and slightly nasilly. “ _ Do something useful for once! _ ” Kai couldn’t make out where Green’s body was hidden among the dumpster and trash lining the two buildings. Out of the darkness, a trash can lid flew out and loudly connected with the police car’s back light, landing on the concrete with a clang. 

“Hey!” They police officer shouted, stepping away from her car in long intimidating strides. “Get out here!”

Green blew a raspberry in his hand for a response before Kai caught his shape darting out and around the corner of the building into the main street. 

“Stop!” The police officer gave chase, and as she disappeared around the corner Kai landed in her previous spot by the car door.

He picked himself up, and locked eyes with Ronin. The grizzled man stared back with wide eyes for half a second, but his expression quickly smoothed out into something wholly unimpressed. “Well this is unexpected.” He grunted, pulling his hands off of the car’s hood and straightening up. His hands jingled lightly as he moved them, and Kai noticed his handcuffs for the first time.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Kai kicked one leg over the other and leaned against the car on his elbow, cocking an eyebrow at Ronin. “Selling street drugs to minor’s isn’t your usual S/O. Oh how the mighty have fallen.”

“Ha ha.” Ronin replied drily, pulling up his shoulders and twisting his wrists uncomfortably in his handcuffs. “Why the hell are you here? Who was that distracting the cop? Blue? Green?”

“We’re here to strike a deal.” Kai replied, tactfully avoiding his second question. “You give me some information, and I’ll help you get out of this. Sound good to you?”

Ronin grunted, and shifted again in his cuffs before his left hand popped out. Kai balked as Ronin held up his freed hand smugly. The palm looked horribly disjointed and folded in on itself, and for a moment Kai was terrified that Ronin had mutilated himself just to get out of owing a favor- until he caught the unnatural texture on the hand, and the round joints and stiffness of the fingers.  _ His prosthetic. Right- thank god. _

“Cute that you think I need your help, but thanks.”

Kai swallowed. “We distracted the cop for you, and you still need help sneaking out of here.” His eyes caught Ronin’s other hand, now resting on his hip. “Also, I bet you can’t use that trick on the other side. You planning on wearing that as a fashion statement?”

The middle aged man raised his wrist dangling the handcuffs and clicked his tongue. “I can deal with this now that I got my hands free. What kinda info you after anyways?” 

Kai clamped his jaws shut for a moment, his better judgement screaming at him not to tell Ronin anything- but their time here was limited, and Green had given him orders. Besides, if Ronin  _ did  _ have anything to help them, it was worth asking.

“Sons of Garmadon.” Kai replied, closely studying Ronin’s expression. “Know anything about ‘em?” 

Ronin scoffed, and shook out his prosthetic hand until the thumb joint audibly clicked back into place. He ran it through his greasy hair as he replied. “‘Course I do. Anyone within fifty miles has heard of ‘em.”

Kai narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t ask if you’ve heard of them. I asked what you  _ know _ about them.”

“What’s it worth to you if I do?”

And there it was. The million dollar question. “It’s worth saving your greasy ass from a night behind bars, even if it’s where you belong.” Kai growled. 

Ronin’s face broke into a grin, and he barked out a laugh. The sudden noise and change of attitude made Kai jump. “Man, you kids are really full of yourselves, ain’t cha?” He sniggered and wiped his nose on his finger- his natural finger. The handcuffs jingled as he moved. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun, though. How’s your sister doin’ these days, Red?”

Kai narrowed his eyes and pushed off of the car, standing up straight. “You know how fucking creepy that sounds, right?”

“Hey, hey- you’re the one making this weird.” Ronin held up his palms in surrender, shaking his head. “She’s a nice kid, alright? A lot more tolerable than any of ya other ninja nerds.” 

A short crashing noise echoed in the distance, along with some muffled shouting. Kai dragged a hand down the side of his face and groaned. “Look, are you going to cooperate with me or not?” He definitely wasn’t above jumping out of the alleyway without warning and leaving Ronin to fend for himself.

The middle aged man hummed thoughtfully, sniffing and whiping his nose on his hand again. Kai  _ knew _ that he was just dragging this out to torture him. “Are you guys gonna take out the Sons of Garmadon?”

Kai scoffed. “Of course. Why, you got friends in there?”

“Hardly.” Ronin’s face seemed to harden, and his gaze drifted to the alleyway entrance behind Kai. “I like crime as much as the next person, but cultists give me the creeps.” 

Kai leaned forward. Ronin’s questionable hobbies aside, it sounded like he was finally willing to talk. “Cultists? Is that what they are?”

“Might as well be. What, you didn’t know that already? Worshiping Garmadon as if he was some sortta martyr, planning his revival so he can rule over the world as a god or some shit- shit’s too weird for my taste. And if I hadn’t seen what I’ve seen, I’d be calling ‘em lunatics as well. I mean, they  _ are _ nut cases, but they’re no joke.” 

Kai nodded, pulse picking up as Ronin continued to talk. “What have you seen?”

“That tidbit ‘ll cost ya extra. And this,” He gestured to the cop car, then to the handcuffs dangling from his lone wrist. “This ain’t gonna cut it.”

_ Typical. _ Kai tisked, and ran through the list of things Ronin usually asks for. “Well, we can’t give you money or our identities, so you’ll have to settle for something else.”

“I’ll do you one better.” Ronin leaned forward conspiritally, and Kai followed his lead. Up close, Ronin’s face was just as unreadable as it had been before, but his eyes glinted in interest as he went on. “In return for my information, I want you to take her down.”

Blood suddenly roared through Kai’s ears. So Ronin  _ did  _ know something useful after all. “Her?” 

“The Quiet One. Leader of the Sons of Garmadon.” Ronin said gruffly, his voice lowered.

Kai’s heart pounded in his ears. Suddenly, the noises of the city surrounding them seemed amplified. A car roared past their alleyway before he managed to respond. “You know where she is?”

“I’ll tell you the who, and you can figure out the where on your own.” What little of Kai’s face that was visible must have revealed his frustration, because Ronin clicked his tongue. “Now now, I’m not sending you on a wild goose chase. You already know where she is.” Before Kai could properly process  _ that _ line, Ronin’s eyes sparked again, and a sly smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “After all, princess’ usually reside at the top of towers.”

Kai’s mind raced to figure out what Ronin meant.  _ Great, cryptic shit. _ “I… I don't follow.” He didn't want to chase him away by asking too many questions, but their time was limited, and he had no idea what Ronin implied when he said it was someone they already knew, and much less, what he had meant by  _ tower _ or  _ princess- _ “ _ Wait _ .”

Ronin straightened up and smirked down at him. “Now you're gettin’ it. Though King’s ain’t exactly the tallest tower- I guess the name fits with the analogy I’m painting for ya.”

“ _ No.” _ Kai stepped backwards, physically reeling. “You can’t be serious. You're fucking with me.”

“That’s what makes it so beautiful though, isn’t it?” Ronin shrugged and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. “It's impressive, and I respect her. Too bad she’s a fuckin’ psycho, you know?”

Ronin reached out with his hand- his real one, with the cuffs still dangling from his wrist, and clapped it on Kai’s shoulder as he moved forward, the cuffs hitting his chest. Kai was frozen in place, unable to move as Ronin leaned in close to his ear.

“Now, keep up your half. I’m sick of these guys running around like they own the place. Bad for business.” his hand disappeared, and Kai felt the burning imprint of his palm for several long moments as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts.

Nothing made sense. Ronin had to be lying- but when had he ever? He’d never steered them wrong before. He’d also never been  _ wrong  _ before- but he had to be now. There was no way. 

_ Right? _

Kai turned around to find the alleyway empty except for himself and the red and blue lights, steadily and alternatingly illuminating the space around him. His body was thrumming for the second time that night, but this felt different than before- this was big.  _ Monumental.  _ And he had to tell Green-

“ _ Fuuuuuck.” _ Kai groaned, throwing his head back and covering his face. Green would  _ not _ want to hear this. With all of the other shit going on in his life, Kai had all but forgotten about Green’s secret romance. 

He would have killed to get out of this conversation. Kai took a deep, shaking breath, and forced his feet to a nearby pipe trailing up the wall of the building he had jumped from. He quickly tested the bolts before clamoring up to find himself alone on the rooftop. 

A cold breeze passed by slowly. Kai took a slow breath, breathing in the mixed scents of gas and garbage that he always associated with home. He clenched and unclenched his hands, slowly stepping forward and letting his gaze scan the silhouettes of skyscrapers in the distance. It was too dark and too far away to see, but Kai knew with certainty that felt like a deadweight in his chest that one of those buildings was Ninjago King’s Apartments. He continued to flex his hands, mind thrumming with thoughts as cars distantly honked at each other. 

_ What am I supposed to say? _

“Hey man.” There had been no sound of Green approaching, but Kai wasn’t surprised when the boy spoke up behind him. “What’d Ronin say? Anything useful?”

Kai swallowed, and turned slowly to face his leader. He was standing above the wall closest to the alley. Kai guessed that he had used the same pipe he had to climb back up. “Where’s the cop?”

“Two blocks away.” Green answered. “Probably on her way back now.”

Kai hummed, and looked away, studying the buildings across the street.

“... And what did Ronin say?” Green prompted again. “Anything useful? He obviously got away.” Green’s footsteps echoed on the roof, and Kai felt him bump against his arm. He risked a glance down, and saw Green’s eyes smiling crookedly. “Dude, c’mon. You’re kinda freaking me out. Did he tell you something important?”

Kai chucked weakly, and raised his other arm to rub the back of his neck. “Yeah, kinda. It’s, um…” He took a deep breath, his stomach convulsing as he went on. “He uh, got away on his own. But he said taking them out would be enough of a payment.”

“Take who out? The Sons of Garmadon? The Quiet One?” Green pressed. “If we have a location, we can call up the others and plan out an attack.” Kai didn’t respond. Green stepped in front of Kai, forcing him to meet his eyes. “Red, what’s wrong?”

Kai could only hold his gaze for a moment before he tore away again.  _ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. _ “It’s, uh.” He cleared his throat.  _ Fuck. _ “It’s Harumi. Ronin said that The Quiet One is Harumi.”

“ _ What? _ ” Green said, disbelief bleeding out of his tone. “That’s not right. What, was he- was he just trying to get you to leave him alone?” Green was laughing, but the longer he kept talking, the more strained it sounded. “That’s not- Red, c’mon. Really. What- what’d he-”

Kai’s entire body was tense. He shook his head shortly, eyes unfocused as he stubbornly looked away. “No. He was serious.” 

The following silence stretched for too long. Kai didn’t want to look, but he knew that whatever sense of unease and shock that he was feeling, it had to be multiplied for Green. Slowly, he twisted his head around and risked a glance.

Green was illuminated behind from the flashing of the police car below them, and Kai could clearly see his eyes, blown impossibly wide. His eyebrows were lost in the hood covering his forehead, and he stood impossibly still- unbreathing. Kai opened his mouth, but only a loose, shaking breath came out. What more could he say?

“That… that’s not...” Finally, Green started to move again, his shoulders rising in a deep breath. His eyes dropped away from Kai’s, and he shook his head slightly, raising up a palm to cover one of his eyes. “No. She- she’s the daughter of the mayor and deputy mayor, she’s fourteen, there’s no way…” He looked up sharply, eyes suddenly blazing. “You really  _ believe  _ that?”

Kai shrunk away from the sudden aggression, though part of him had been expecting it. He took another slow breath as he straightened up. “Not at first, of course. But Ronin-”

“Ronin’s a criminal!” Green shouted. Kai raised his hands, trying to motion for him to stay quiet.

“Ronin seemed sincere about this. He hates the Sons of Garmadon as much as we do.”

Green aggressively shook his head and balled his hands into fists at his sides. “No, you don’t-” He cut himself off, growling harshly from the back of his throat, and began to stride forward.

Kai stopped him with a hand on his shoulder as he tried to shove pass him, eyes wide and other hand unconsciously reaching for his utility belt. “Yo, dude, it’s ok. It’s just a lead- we don’t know for sure yet.”

“No, we  _ do _ know for sure.” He glared sharply at Kai, making him want to shrink back again. “It’s  _ not _ Harumi.” He pushed pass Kai, and made his way to the other end of the roof.

Panicked, Kai ran his fingers through his utility belt pockets until he found what he was looking for, and quickly snatched it out as he jogged to catch up with Green’s long strides. “Hey, c’mon-”

“You should go home, Red. You shouldn’t even be out tonight.” Green said cooly. He stopped abruptly at the opposite end of the roof, and Kai slowed to a stop several feet behind him. Green’s shoulders drooped, and Kai clenched his hand into a fist uncertainly. “... Sorry. I hope you’re feeling better, but this- this is a bad lead. Asking Ronin was a stupid idea. I was wrong.”

Kai stepped forward hesitantly, raising his hand to Green’s back, but not yet touching him. “Where are you going?”

Green sniffed, and raised his head, still not looking at Kai. “I’ll continue my patrol until the next person clocks in. You should get some sleep.” 

Kai closed his eyes, and nodded slowly to himself. He took in one last deep breath through his nostrils, and slowly rested his hand on the back of Green’s shoulder. “Ok. Stay safe.”

“Yeah.” Green was still for several more heartbeats. Then, he slipped away from Kai’s grip, leaping down to the next rooftop, and quickly vanishing from sight.

Kai stood still for a long time. Another breeze blew past him- sharp, cutting through his gi and causing him to shudder deeply.

A wordless shout somewhere behind him made him jump, heart hammering loudly in his ears. A distant string of curses in a feminine voice sounded from the far alleyway, and after a couple moments, the blue and red flashing finally cut out. As his heart rate slowed, he heard an engine start up, and listened to the cop car disappear down the street.

Kai shook his head to clear his thoughts, and reached into his utility belt one more time. As he slipped the earpiece into his hood, he lifted his wrist and pulled open the holographic map, a small flashing dot making its way steadily across the city.

 

* * *

 

 

_ Red is  _ my _ color. _ Kai thought idly, poking his finger through the holographic screen and watching static surround the point.  _ I should be able to change the dot color to green. That way I remember which one of my friends I'm stalking. _

Kai sighed roughly and withdrew his finger. He rubbed at his eyes, feeling exhaustion weigh down his limbs. He felt like he was finally ready to head back home, take the inevitable and well deserved verbal lashing from Nya, and get some much needed sleep. But a concoction of deep gut wrenching dread and big brother instincts kept him rooted on the familiar rooftop neighboring Ninjago King’s Apartments, staring blearily at the red dot on his map that had stopped moving near ten minutes ago, and listening to Green’s clothing rustle in his ear. 

He’d wanted to give Green the benefit of the doubt, but Kai had tagged him knowing full well that this was where they’d both end up.

He tried to distract himself with stupid thoughts, or imagining the banter he’d exchange with Black, were he here in this situation with him.  _ I can’t believe Green got a girlfriend before any of us did, _ Black would say. 

Kai would reply with  _ Not to brag, but I got pretty close before shooting myself in the foot and ruining several of the most important relationships in my life.  _

_ Damn,  _ Black would reply, whistling lowly and leaning back on the roof with his large arms folded behind his head.  _ Sucks for you. Is that why you’re out here now? Trying to ruin another? _

“Seems that way,” Kai mumbled, shooing away his imaginary Black. He wanted fun banter, not a therapy session.

But none of his thoughts could distract him for very long, with his veins thrumming with tension as they were. He had been on edge since he started following Green, and he wasn’t even certain why.

It might have been from betraying his leader’s trust and following him in secret, his heavy breathing echoing through Kai’s earpiece, making him feel like a fucking creep. It could also have been the slight probability that Harumi  _ was _ the quiet one, and knowing that Green was about to meet with her, either to warn her, or… Kai wasn’t sure. He wondered if  _ Green _ even knew what he was doing right now, or what he planned to say to Harumi when he inevitably reached her.

The far more likely outcome was that Kai was about to secretly listen in on some awkward pre-teen flirting and possible makeouts. He wasn’t sure which outcome made his stomach turn worse.

The line in his ear fell silent. Kai’s stopped breathing as his ears strained to listen, a high pitched ringing echoing through his head the longer the silence stretched.

Green sighed, and muttered something too quiet for the mic to pick up. Then, three hollow knocks, and silence again.

Kai finally turned off his holo, and scooted himself closer to the roof edge, eyes straining through the dark to hopelessly try and catch a glimpse of movement in the building below him. The apartment was twenty stories too high for the lights of the road separating them to reach, Kai’s building just about five stories above the roof, and the sky still sat dark and heavy. Though Kai had long lost concept of what time it might have been, he suspected the sky would start to lighten again soon. 

Despite his best efforts, he was unable to pick up on anything besides Green’s breathing. A light suddenly flicked on, illuminating a wide window covering the left quarter of the top floor. Green’s breathing hiccuped at the same moment as Kai’s. Screwing up his eyes, Kai fought to make out any human shapes against the square of light. One suddenly appeared, raising their arms to do something Kai couldn’t discern. He heard two clicks cut through his earpiece before the figure withdrew and a second shape crawled out of the darkness to join them, slipping through the now open window and landing inside the room. Kai heard Green exhale in time with his silhouette landing before a young girl’s voice filled his ear.

_ “What- what are you doing here so late? Are you ok?” _

Kai swallowed and lowered his stomach to the rooftop.  _ Ok. This is happening. _

The silhouettes in the window stood facing each other for several moments as Green breathed heavily in Kai’s ear. 

_ “I… I’m sorry.”  _ There was a shuffling noise, and though it was hard to tell from his distance, Kai saw Green’s silhouette back away from Harumi.  _ “Something came up while I was on patrol. I just… had to see you.” _

Kai sucked in a breath through his nose.  _ God, do I sound this embarrasing what I’m talking with Jay? _

_ “What happened? What’s wrong?”  _ Harumi pressed. Her silhouette moved closer to Green’s again.

_ “I can’t tell you.” _ Kai’s shoulders lost a fraction of their tension. It was a relief that Green wasn’t going to Harumi to tell her all their secrets- not that he thought he would, of course. But his voice over the mic sounded tired. 

_ “Why?” _ Harumi asked.  _ “Is my father in danger again? Am I safe here?”  _ Silence.  _ “...You came all this way for a reason. Talk to me, maybe I can help.” _ Her voice sounded gentle and soothing in Kai’s ear, increasing in volume and clarity. The two figures in the window moved closer until they merged together, and Kai was unable to tell them apart.

Green sighed, slowly and longingly. The sound made Kai’s chest tighten.  _ “You know why I can’t tell you.” _ His voice was quieter now, more muffled.  _ “You help me by just being here. By letting me in. Rumi, I’m so…”  _ He trailed off, and a loud clipping noise covered the mic. The noise made Kai’s heart jump, and he strained to hear anything.

_ Did they find the tracker? _ Kai’s pulse picked up, though he doubted that was what happened. His eyes strained over the distance to try and see the pair in the window. They were standing so close, it seemed like one person.

He could just barely hear them talking, but their words sounded distance. He started to worry that the mic had fallen off, despite knowing that White had made it, and that White never fucked up when making anything-

Then, the two figures standing in the window separated, and the mic clipped loudly again with the sound of brushing fabric before clearing up.  _ “Thank you.” _ Green’s voice sounded clearly in Kai’s ear.

_ “Anytime.” _ Harumi answered softly.

_ Ah, so that’s it. _ Kai thought. His chest strained over how raw Green’s voice sounded.

_ “And I mean it.”  _ Harumi continued.  _ “Green, I’m so happy that you came to me. I want to be here for you. You don’t deserve to hold this burden alone…” _

Long moments stretched of nothing but breathing. Kai felt another wave of relief over something he hadn’t even totally realized that he was worried about- Harumi calling Green by his color meant that he hadn’t revealed his identity to her. He knew that it wasn’t something he even should’ve suspected of his leader, but he wasn’t totally sure what to think recently. 

Kai wished that he could make out what Green and Harumi were doing, but it was hopeless from his distance. After nearly a minute of silence, Green inhaled sharply. One of the figures jerked away, and walked farther into the room, out of Kai’s sight.

_ “Rumi…” _ Green cautioned. 

_ “I’m sorry.” _ The last figure in the window- Harumi, Kai guessed, disappeared as well, following Green farther into her room.  _ “I just… want to know you. The real you. _ ”

Kai stared intently at the now empty window, his fingers twitching as he now relied solely on the earpiece.  _ Green’s smart. He won’t tell her… _

_ “Rumi, this feels like the last place where I  _ can _ be the real me.” _ That… stung, more than a little. Kai thought that he was a safe space for Green, that they had forged some sort of special bond over the years- and tonight especially. But with everything that’s happened, he guessed he couldn’t blame him. It still hurt, though.

_ “How can you say that when I don’t even know what your name is?” _ Harumi asked.  _ “Is it so criminal that I want to know?” _

Criminal was an interesting word choice, Kai thought. Green didn’t answer her.

_ “...Green, I really like you.” _ Harumi began, voice beyond gentle.  _ “And I think that you like me a lot as well. Or, I like to think so, at least.” _ Green’s breathing changed, the mic catching his shift.  _ “You don’t need to tell me where you come from. I believe you when you say that who you’ve shown me is the real you, and I don’t care to know who you used to be if you don’t want to tell me. Who you are now is enough.” _ She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was clearer, closer to the mic.  _ “I just… want to know a name to call you by. And… maybe even a face to connect to that name, if it’s not too much to ask.” _

Kai almost felt for her- but at the same time, her persistence left him on edge. Were her motives really so innocent? Was Green feeling the same nervous and building suspicion that Kai was? 

_ “... I do like you. A lot.” _ Green’s reply came eventually, barely above a whisper.  _ “And part of me really,  _ really _ wants to take off my mask for you.” _ Kai’s mind flashes to the nervous but excited face that he saw three years ago, and to the name that passed through his hopeful smile. 

_ Lloyd. _ Kai thought, chest aching.  _ Don’t do this. _

_ “...but I can’t. And if you like me as much as you say you do, then you’ll respect that.” _

Kai sucked in a breath through his teeth. Even if the situation was starting to turn into some kind of telenovela, he had to stick by incase things went south. 

_ “Green…”  _ Harumi murmured. A tense silence filtered through his ear, eventually broken buy Harumi’s huff of breath.  _ “Fine. Can you at least tell me why you’re here then?” _

_ “I told you.”  _ Lloyd responded, voice strained.  _ “I needed to see you.” _

Another stretch of silence. Kai clenched his hands until his knuckles turned white. He wished more than anything that he could see what they were doing, what inaudible communications they were exchanging. As it was, he was trapped out in the creeping winter cold on the neighboring roof, peering down at an empty window some hundred feet away, with only the quiet static pouring through his ear.

_ “... Did you learn something?”  _ Came Harumi’s voice, indiscernible of emotion.  _ “Something that involves my family?” _ More silence.  _ “...something that involves me?” _

Lloyd’s lack of response spoke volumes. Kai wished again that he had some sense of what the pair were doing in these long stretches of quiet, but he was blind and mute in this conversation. All he could do was listen.

_ “... How much do you know about the Sons of Garmadon, Green?” _ Kai’s body immediately tensed. He could  _ feel  _ the shift in her voice. Red alarms started blaring in his mind.

_ “That doesn't concern you.” _ Lloyd replied shortly.

_ “The Sons of Garmadon held a gun to my head. They infiltrated my home, and held me and my mother captive while they tore apart my father's apartment- which I am now confined to, while my home is being repaired. Or did you forget?” _

_ “No.” _ Kai couldn't make out the emotion behind Lloyd’s voice, though he sounded strained.  _ “I couldn’t forget.” _

_ “Of course, because  _ you _ saved me from them. Each time.” _

Another stretch of silence, the only noise filling his ear was Lloyd’s shallow breaths. Kai shifted so that he was kneeling, one foot resting on the edge of the roof, his entire body coiled and ready to spring.

_ “I’ll ask again. How much do you know about the Sons of Garmadon?” _

_ “Not much.” _ Lloyd relented- but even over the comm, Kai could hear how weak his voice was, and how he answered far too quickly. He was too easy to read.

Harumi hummed in thought.  _ “... would you like to know more?”  _ Kai’s breath caught in his throat.

_ “Please,” _ Lloyd croaked, his voice broken.  _ “Don’t. I didn't want to believe it…” _

_ “Maybe you’d like to know why they chose to call themselves the Sons of Garmadon in the first place. I’m sure that’s something you’ve wondered yourself, isn’t it?” _

_ “Please…” _ Lloyd begged again. Kai’s chest was convulsing, his head spinning, and his entire body felt  like it was on fire- but something kept him rooted to his spot.  _ What does she mean about the name? _

Harumi clicked her tongue, and the noise cut sharply through Kai’s ear.  _ “The truth is, there is no mask of hatred. Funny, right? You’d think if there was going to be a red herring, it’d be the mask of deception, but no. They wasted a lot of time searching for that last mask, you know. Of course, this was all years ago. No use starting a game before you know where all your pieces are. Isn’t that smart?” _

Harumi chuckled.  _ “What  _ is  _ the third mask then? To know that, you need to understand what the masks are. Did Wu even get that far?” _  Kai’s heart jumped. Harumi paused, as if waiting for Lloyd to respond, but he said nothing. She hummed in disappointment.  _ “While it’s true the masks grant their wearers strength corresponding to their titles- wisdom for the mask of deception, and emotion for the mask of vengeance- when performing the ceremony, they pass on those powers from the wearer to the revived one. The third oni, the mask of hatred, is the most important of all. Its purpose is to restore power to the revived one. _

_ “And, well- giving up all of that power comes with a price. But you know, you can’t take from the departed relm without giving something back. But the key component, the most important detail, is that the ceremony is only successful if it’s from a direct descendant of the one you’re reviving.” _

_ “Any idea where we could find someone like that,  _ Lloyd Garmadon?”

Kai’s heart stopped. His body, previously burning with heat and energy, was suddenly ice cold.  _ …Garmadon? As in- _

_ “Don’t touch me-” _ Lloyd’s voice, raising to a shout, was cut short as something hit the mic. Lloyd grunted loudly, and the mic was smothered again, a loud static burning Kai’s ear.

Kai quickly threw out any thoughts that weren’t centered around  _ saving Lloyd. _ He quickly pushed himself to his feet, and began running away from the apartments, further into the center of the roof. As he ran, and the sounds of a fight played in his left ear, he grabbed the wrist his watch was connected to, and pushed a button on the side, seeing the illuminated short holographic notification spring up. 

 

_ Issue an emergency? _

 

_ \Yes _ _ \     No  _

 

Kai pushed the same button again, feeling the metal dig in sharply to his fingertip.

 

_ Emergency Level: \2\ _

 

Kai spammed the button until the number reached six. He spun back around, now standing in the middle of the roof, and raised his wrist to see the displayed message clearly. 

 

_ Issued: Level 6 Emergency _

_ Your location is being  _ _broadcasted_

 

**_No one_ ** _ has checked in. _

 

Lloyd screamed in his ear. Kai shut off his holoram with a flick of his wrist, pulled the device out of his ear, and threw it at the ground, smashing it underfoot as he started running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //sweats yeah sorry that you had to wait for months and the chapter ended like That  
> this wasn't supposed to be a stopping point bc I wrote this chapter and the next (still workin on it) as one chapter so rest assured the REAL final chapter will pick up immedietly form this point
> 
> also jay isnt even in this chapter ahaha fjsdkabfdskjn
> 
> I CANT BELIEVE!!! I WAS IN SUCH A RUSH THAT I FORGOT TO LINK ALL THE AMAZING SHIT THAT PEOPLE SHOWERED ME WITH DURING THE HIATUS BETWEEN THIS CHAPTER AND THE LAST!!! FUCK  
> there were like 100 fan fictions submitted to me, please read through all of them to get you through this dryspell on my blog under the tag "[earbuds fanfanfic](https://whiparoundandcry.tumblr.com/tagged/Earbuds-fanfanfic)"  
> And all the fanart ive gotten is under the tag "[earbuds fanart](https://whiparoundandcry.tumblr.com/tagged/earbuds-fanart)"!! If you made me something and I havent reblogged it PLEASE send it to me I will legit cry


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